Ananya Gairola
3 min read
Billionaire entrepreneur and Cost Plus Drugs founder Mark Cuban believes that these two changes could dramatically improve the U.S. healthcare system.
What Happened: On Thursday, Cuban responded to a question about what two changes he would make to fix the U.S. healthcare system, if he had full power for one day as president.
Instead of just giving two, he outlined several bold policy ideas targeting one major issue: prescription drug pricing and healthcare payment systems.
He proposed separating formularies from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and any companies they own. "They removed their leverage," Cuban said, implying that PBMs have too much control over pricing and access.
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The billionaire also suggested a rule that would force Medicare Advantage and Part D plans to buy from any provider offering a lower price than what patients currently pay out of pocket.
Beyond those two ideas, Cuban added more potential reforms: requiring providers to honor publicly listed cash prices, banning specialty drug pricing tiers and making provider CEOs personally liable in cases of billing fraud.
“Put together a financing plan for all healthcare out-of-pocket costs, held by the provider, guaranteed by the Feds. And personally guaranteed against fraud by provider CEOs (to end provider fraud),” he said.
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Why It's Important: Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company, launched in 2022, has quickly grown by offering transparent pricing and cutting out middlemen to lower prescription drug costs.
Its Cost Plus Marketplace, introduced in February 2024, started with over 4,000 medicines—mainly those in short supply—and has since expanded to over 6,000, supporting healthcare providers nationwide.
Earlier, Elon Musk criticized the high cost of U.S. healthcare, questioning the lack of value for the money spent. In response, Cuban responded by blaming not just the government but also CEOs of self-insured companies for signing contracts with PBMs that drive up drug prices.
