Mark Cuban Says Health Insurance Shouldn't Exist — 'You Don't Have to Grab Every Nickel When It's the Health of the Entire Country at Stake' https://www.benzinga.com/news/25/04...o-grab-every-nickel-when-its-the-health-of-th Mark Cuban isn't interested in patching up the healthcare system with duct tape and buzzwords. He wants to rip it open, throw it under a spotlight, and ask what a lot of Americans are already thinking: Why is this entire industry allowed to operate in complete darkness? In a February fireside chat with Hospitalogy founder Blake Madden—later revisited in April—the billionaire behind Cost Plus Drugs didn't hold back. He took aim at insurance companies, hospitals, consultants, and just about anyone profiting off the confusion. And yes, he said it: "I don't think there's a reason that health insurance should exist." Cuban's not looking to compete with insurers. He just wants to make them irrelevant. "We're going to try to make it so that self-insured employers have no reason to work with insurance companies," he said. In his view, insurers approve plans that restrict access and bury costs behind layers of red tape. Worse, they don't even ask the most basic questions. "Why is the health of our entire country based on providers who don't know their own f*cking costs?" he asked. Hospitals don't get a pass either. Cuban blasted their refusal to publish general ledgers or disclose what procedures and services actually cost. He called out the culture of secrecy, noting that executives are afraid of what transparency might reveal. "People don't want to do that because they're scared of what it would do for their business." To Cuban, that's more than just bad management—it's a moral failure. "This isn't the Dallas Mavericks," he said. "This is the health and welfare of our entire country." And while he proudly calls himself a capitalist, he draws a line when it comes to healthcare. "You don't have to just grab every nickel that you can get when there's this at stake." If the industry refuses to act on its own, Cuban believes it's time for regulators to step in. Not to micromanage. Not to take over. Just to require the basics. "You've got to open the books," he said. He's pushing for laws that would force hospitals and insurers to disclose actual costs, margins, and spending—something he says should be standard practice in any business that deals with life-and-death decisions. If transparency threatens the business model, Cuban's argument is simple: maybe that business shouldn't exist in the first place.
This is why I'm a big fan of other countries who are courageous in using a Universal Healthcare system to protect every one of their citizens from the abusive costs by hospitals, pharmaceuticals et cetera in the medical industry. Ironically, the United States has a universal healthcare system model in place but refuses to use it for all Americans to control the abuses...its the Veterans Administration Healthcare System that's controlled by the government. Oddly, we now have DOGE that has not recommended the government to take control of the entire healthcare system in the United States and adopt the VA Healthcare System due to very powerful medical lobbyists in Washington who are buddy withe President Trump...protecting the rich while keeping everyone poorer from health expenses or expensive healthcare coverage. Another low cost healthcare model are one low payment that college students are offered when they enroll at college. That low cost give students almost free access to the University Healthcare System...often some of the best in the country with medical industry future best doctors and technology. Getting back to the VA is something only veterans know about...the VA healthcare use top doctors & nurses from nearby top medical hospitals...medical people keeping their education costs low. The VA offers them free shuttle rides to and from the top local hospitals in luxury vans fitted with top internet connection including giving veterans that option of scheduling their hospital visits at the VA or the hospital of their Doctor. I myself have done the latter whenever I'm in the states in the Chicago area. My family doctor is a top doctor at Northwestern Hospital and University of Chicago Medical (in network hospitals for the VA). I will often schedule my medical visits at Northwestern Hospital instead of the VA because I made damn sure I only used the best Doctors who are employed at Northwestern who are treating veterans, reservists, national guard soldiers to reduce the the education costs of the Doctors... These hospitals like many other top hospitals in the United States are in partnership with the government of the United States because they're "teaching hospitals" for our countries top physicians. It's a win win situation for Veterans, Doctors, and the United States that Trump & DOGE will refuse to use to fix the healthcare system in the United States when we're already using the universal healthcare for our Veterans and college students paying low cost for access to their university healthcare system. The irony is that I've met Doctors in France and Canada (a universal healthcare system) who did their internship and other medical education at top hospitals in the United States who were once connected to the VA Healthcare System and greatly respected and appreciated by U.S. military veterans. wrbtrader
It's like they want to breed Luigi's. United Healthcare pays nursing homes to let their residents rot and not get necessary hospital care. Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations. Whistleblowers allege harm to residents https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...lth-nursing-homes-payments-hospital-transfers UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest healthcare conglomerate, has secretly paid nursing homes thousands in bonuses to help slash hospital transfers for ailing residents – part of a series of cost-cutting tactics that has saved the company millions, but at times risked residents’ health, a Guardian investigation has found. (Much more at above url)
Your hero now has a play... ‘Luigi the Musical’ creators say the play is not what you expect https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/14/us/luigi-mangione-musical Luigi Mangione has a fan club and state and federal charges accusing him of murder. Now the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson also has a show named after him. But the people behind “Luigi the Musical” say they’re not jumping on the bandwagon that saw an outpouring of antipathy toward the health insurance industry and apparent appreciation for Mangione. “I think it’s more about posing the questions and trying to deepen the conversation … around these more difficult and hot-button issues,” Jonny Stein, who plays Mangione, told CNN in an exclusive interview. “I hope that conversation continues and that there is this element of stopping and thinking and hopefully analyzing these kinds of responses,” he added. “And I hope you have fun.” It started out as a “Can you believe it?” moment at an open mic night in San Francisco’s comedy scene. “Have you heard Diddy, (Sam Bankman-Fried) and Luigi are in the same prison?” Caleb Zeringue said he asked his friends. From that one comment came the five-show production opening Friday night at the Taylor Street Theater in San Francisco. Zeringue is an executive producer, along with friend and fellow comedian Nova Bradford. It’s a satirical one-act show, set in the Brooklyn federal prison which housed Mangione; Sean “Diddy” Combs, in the midst of his federal trial for sex trafficking; and Bankman-Fried — the crypto king serving time behind bars for a massive fraud scheme. He was transferred out of the Metropolitan Detention Center last month. “It’s like a period piece set in March,” joked Stein, a comedian who also has a background in musical theater. The makers are adamant that the dark comedy is in no way meant to glorify Mangione’s alleged crimes, saying on the theater’s website: “If you are confused, offended, or taking this too literally, we gently recommend a Google search for ‘satire,’ or possibly a hug.” “I think we are all pretty curious about the systems at large,” Stein told CNN. “Health care is part of what we’re looking at, but tech and entertainment too.” Zeringue added they’re hoping they allow audiences to question the “complication of the fact that violence is so commonplace in our society” and explore why major events that happen take off on social media. Public obsession around these high-profile cases has exploded, with people’s interest piquing for different reasons. Outside the federal court where the Combs trial is ongoing, you will find dozens of people spending hours live-streaming rain or shine, chasing down witnesses or reading from their spiral notebooks a play-by-play of what’s happening inside court. One person, who goes by the name “Miss Pleasant” online, explained that her viewers want to feel engaged. “It has celebrity, it has sex, it has crime, it has drugs. This is as big as the OJ Simpson trial.” She’s amassed a following of more than 6,000 followers on YouTube. Similarly, at Mangione’s court hearings, supporters show up in the hundreds, donning “Luigi” green and chanting for his freedom. Dr. Roona Ray with the non-profit Physicians for a National Health Program said her motivation for showing up at these court dates was the hope that change in the health care system will come. “I think this case kind of touched a nerve for people. As a physician, I see people every day that are treated badly by the health insurance industry,” Ray said. “Luigi the Musical” certainly tapped into something, as tickets for all five shows sold out within a day. The group has since added one more performance in July at a different theater in San Francisco. Mangione, now 27, has a court date scheduled for September in the New York state case. He has pleaded not guilty to all state and federal charges.