Cuban mark is taking aim at the US health care system, arguing that widespread billing abuse by insurers and providers could be a major source of federal revenue—if only they were held accountable.
“If we fined insurers and providers $100 every time they overcharged, wrongly denied care or misrepresented any patient out of pocket, we could pay off the national debt,” the billionaire entrepreneur posted on X last week.
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Cuban said the system is rigged against everyday Americans who are forced to navigate a confusing maze of bills, denials and surprise out-of-pocket costs. “They play on the fear and asymmetry of information that exists in health care,” he wrote, calling for the disintegration of key players in the industry.
“Break them. Make them give up non-insurance companies,” he said. “And when we finish the insurance companies, we go to the hospitals and then to the pharmaceutical wholesalers. They break them. We make the markets efficient again.”
Cuban’s post came in response to a post by the Scalpel Policy Solutions founder Tanner Aliffwhich highlighted new state laws that give patients a “deductible credit” for paying cash prices that are lower than what insurance companies typically reimburse. Aliff argued that these laws help patients save money while still having their spending count toward their annual deductible.
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Aliff explained that instead of “raising your entire deductible on a $6,000.00 MRI fee,” patients in certain states can now pay about $300 cash for the same service and still get a credit toward their deductible.
According to Aliff, only four states—Texas, Indiana, Tennessee and Oregon—have implemented some version of this reform.
Cuban praised the effort and called for wider adoption. “If cash pays for everyone [health care] can be counted against your deductible, we can all shop around and save money. If your state is not on this list, ask your congressman why not,” he said.
Critics, however, have questioned whether the average patient can realistically pull it off. “To believe that consumers can actually execute this, in a coordinated way, makes you delusional,” financial planner yeah oh they answered. “Clearly you haven’t talked to real people with any illness. This message is doing more harm than good.”