Cost Plus Drugs’ Mark Cuban recently voiced his support for the “Break Up Big Medicine Act,” introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
Introduced in February, the bill would prevent companies from simultaneously owning a health insurer or pharmacy benefit manager and a provider or management services organization. The legislation would also keep prescription drug or medical device wholesalers from owning a provider or management services organization.
In a March 24 X post, Mr. Cuban said employers are struggling amid steep healthcare costs, with most of the expenses going toward “massive, vertically integrated insurance companies.” He requested that his followers contact their senators and push for the bill.
“Break up the biggest insurance companies,” Mr. Cuban said. “They don’t need thousands of subsidiaries. That’s how they game and abuse the system and increase costs for all of us.”
In separate X posts from March 28 and March 30, Mr. Cuban specifically called upon Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to support the bill. Mr. Sanders has been a longtime advocate for a single-payer healthcare system. Mr. Cuban said there is no route to a single-payer setup or more efficiency in healthcare unless the biggest insurers divest noninsurance assets.
The largest healthcare company, UnitedHealth Group, has faced scrutiny over its vertical integration. A report from last year found the insurer operates nearly 2,700 subsidiaries. The company did not disclose most of its subsidiaries in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 2025. Canadian religious group Mission Fund is also suing UnitedHealth after the company moved away from a proposal to share the consequences of its acquisitions.
In a January Congressional testimony, UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley said the company’s structure yielded “a very substantial value dynamic in terms of bringing a better care experience and more value to the healthcare environment in total.”
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