Cuban Takes on Broken Healthcare System: A Texas Billionaire’s Plan

Elon Musk isn’t one to beat around the bush—and when he recently asked on X, “Shouldn’t the American people be getting their money’s worth?” regarding healthcare affordability, he got an answer. Billionaire Texas entrepreneur Mark Cuban stepped into the conversation with a searing, seven-point reality check that laid bare why the U.S. healthcare system is bleeding money—and lives.

Cuban’s response hit home for many Texans tired of skyrocketing costs and bad practices. Rather than simply blaming government inefficiency, he pointed the finger at self-insured companies that, through convoluted contracts with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), lock businesses into a system where they lose control of their own data. Without access to the raw numbers, CEOs are kept in the dark about where their healthcare dollars really go.

Here’s Cuban’s 7-part rundown:
• Data Lock-Up: Businesses sign away access to their own claims data, crippling their ability to negotiate.
• No Choice in Medications: PBMs dictate which drugs are available, often favoring expensive options over effective generics.
• Specialty Drug Markups: So-called “specialty drugs” are nothing special—they’re marked up exorbitantly, inflating costs unnecessarily.
• Subsidizing the Sick: The cost structure ends up burdening the sickest employees with higher deductibles and co-pays.
• Crushing Independent Pharmacies: Lower reimbursement rates force independent pharmacies out, reducing competition and driving prices up.
• Negotiation Blockade: PBM contracts often forbid direct negotiations with drug manufacturers, leaving CEOs powerless.
• Silencing Clauses: NDAs keep businesses from exposing these flawed contracts, perpetuating secrecy and inefficiency.

But Cuban didn’t stop at criticism. He actually offered a solution (imagine that!): his direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical model via Cost Plus Drugs. By cutting out the middleman, his approach promises transparency, lower prices, and real value for consumers.

For Texans—and Americans fed up with a broken system—Cuban’s call for disruption may be the wake-up call we need. It’s a bold pitch to upend an industry that, as Cuban argues, is more about lining pockets than healing people.