(Right Report)—Billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban voiced unexpected support for President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on healthcare and prescription drug pricing, despite frequently opposing the president’s policies.
Cuban, known for his role on “Shark Tank” and as the founder of Cost Plus Drugs—a public benefit corporation launched in 2022 to reduce generic drug costs—praised the potential of the Trump administration’s executive order to slash prescription drug expenses significantly.
“Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions,” Cuban stated in a post on X.
Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions.
Here is how:
1. Divorce formularies from PBMs. Require them to come from independent organizations with no economic incentive from the formulary
Make them…— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 16, 2025
He highlighted six key policies he believes could drive these savings by reshaping interactions among drugmakers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and pharmacies to benefit consumers.
Cuban proposed separating formularies from PBMs and tasking independent groups, free from financial ties to formularies, with their development. This, he argued, would eliminate rebates and enable transparent net pricing for prescription drugs.
He also advocated for PBMs to share claims data with employers, states, and manufacturers, which would reduce manufacturers’ costs for accessing this data and allow them to lower retail prices.
Cuban called for abolishing the specialty drug tier and the mandate to purchase from specific pharmacies, asserting that “nothing special about specialty drugs” and that the label is primarily used to “jack up the price.”
He further suggested that pharmacies should receive full reimbursement for brand-name drugs and that the generic cost ratio, which he claims enables distributors to inflate generic drug prices through chargebacks, should be eliminated.
Cuban also pushed for removing confidentiality clauses that restrict companies from negotiating directly with manufacturers, which he believes would secure better prices and improve patient wellness plans. Additionally, he urged an end to biosimilar substitution practices to ensure consumers receive the most cost-effective options without PBMs swapping in pricier alternatives.
“Put me in coach,” Cuban concluded in his post, “I’m here to help.”
The executive order from the Trump administration instructs federal agencies to craft regulations and reports addressing healthcare and prescription drug costs. These include revising the drug price negotiation framework under the Inflation Reduction Act, stabilizing Medicare Part D premiums, and creating rules to lower the cost of high-cost drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, including those outside the negotiation program.
It also aims to reform the Medicaid drug payment system, enhance affordability of critical medications like insulin and injectable epinephrine, and produce reports to reassess the role of pharmaceutical middlemen, promote competition, and reduce drug prices. Additionally, the order seeks to increase prescription drug imports to drive down costs “without sacrificing safety or quality.”
Article generated from legacy media reports.
