Mark Cuban Calls for “Patient-First Medicaid Reform” Amid Washington Budget Debate

Mark Cuban Calls for “Patient-First Medicaid Reform” Amid Washington Budget Debate

by Amiya Nandy in Business, News on May 10, 2025

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has once again criticized the U.S. healthcare system — but this time, he has suggested a way to fix it by putting the patients first.

Cuban took to the social media on Thursday, May 9 to give an answer to update. In his post, he raised an alarm over the U.S. political leaders’ proposal to slash off more than $880 million in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years at a time when the Congress is considering sweeping changes to the budget. He told the US to stay off the money issue and start to care for the directly affected people.

The Notice That Is Getting The Word Around

Cuban expressed his thoughts on X (ex-Twitter), saying “I’m against a decrease in the benefits to Medicaid recipients. In fact, I would love to see them get more benefits.”

His message not only carried with it an air of immediacy but also stirred the political arena in such a way that brought even those traditional opponents into discussion.

Here’s how he described the current situation: “The way the system is currently constructed to move dollars from the fed gov to states and then to the beneficiaries is backa**-halfwards.”

A Patient-Centric Structure

Despite the ongoing political battle for changes in the budget, Cuban’s comments emphasize the widespread discontent with the current structure of public healthcare programs.

He is sure that it is not so much a question of the size of the spending as it is one of its inefficiency.

Cuban says, “Let’s do what needs to be done across all of healthcare. Simplify it. Remove the arbitrage. Start with the patient, rather than the budget, and work down.”

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs’ business model that of a customer-first approach is what the concept of the given statement has been referring to. Moreover, Mark Cuban’s company offers affordable prescription medication by eliminating intermediaries and adopting a pricing policy that is based on the principle of a one-time payment regardless of the quantity of the product.

Why Now Is The Right Time

The Medicaid initiative is currently providing medical coverage for more than 68 million low-income individuals primarily consisting of children, elderly people, and disabled persons. Any kind of reduction in their benefits could basically mean they are no longer able to get the necessary cure for their medical conditions.

On the other hand, expenses for medical treatment are still rising. As stated in the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, the available individual subscription on the ACA health insurance marketplace costs nearly $500 monthly, and patients still have to pay the rest of the healthcare fees and deductible.

Another point is that the time for the election is getting closer, and with both the democrats and the republicans talking about health care protection, Cuban has presented his view and message in a way that is neutral to a political party and could attract votes by the majority.

Cost Plus Drugs, A New Face of Reformation in Healthcare

After Mark Cuban launched Cost Plus Drugs in 2022, he assumed a leading role in the health sector and has been the strongest voice for the need of a proper health care adjustment in the States.

Indeed, his company is now in a partnership with hospitals, public health systems, and different organizations; all the work is focused on lowering drug prices across the country.

Something that is also important is that his move during the same week as the release of the generic $5 drug program and another program of the same type but in the style of a pilot has brought a regime of cheap health care in far-off parts of the country a bit closer to those who need it.

His words this week could be the beginning of a period of change in the national Medicaid debate. Cuban, instead of continuing the previous discussion of reducing or protecting, is now asking the question: how will the system be reinvented to function efficiently for those who actually depend on it?

Will Washington Listen?

With the budget negotiations forecasted to last the summer, lawmakers find themselves under a dual pressure – that coming from the healthcare advocacy groups and the public. No, Cuban’s testimony is not part of any formal hearing, but his position and proven success in the industry are not that easy to reject.

So say the proponents of the action here.

“Medicaid simply needs modernizing, not looting,” urged Dana Goldberg, a policy advisor at a national healthcare non-profit. “Any initiative to speed up the process and remove administrative waste is where we see efficiency at the lowest price.“

Mark Cuban is definitely not a government official. However, it’s his voice that is stretching towards that powerful status in the reshaping of the healthcare sector by 2025.

Cuban takes the patient-focused care approach, thus making legislators and insurance companies realize that Medicaid delivery is both uninteresting and inhumane.

During the budget debate, his message could be the most important idea on the table: think from the patient, and grow from there

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