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