Everyone’s favorite Shark from the Tank and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been questioning the quality of insurance plans offered by major carriers.
Mark Cuban Calls Out Big Insurance
The Shark Tank investor argues that if retailers and trade groups lean on those traditional providers, they may end up stuck with plans that offer little real value.
Cuban has been pushing the idea that sticking with the usual players can leave people with coverage that barely meets their needs and feels like a letdown.
Mark has also cautioned that bringing major insurance companies into the process could reinforce the same habits that have frustrated buyers for years.
He thinks their involvement could keep the old system in place and widen the gap in understanding between carriers and the smaller groups they serve.
Mark’s biting comments reflect doubts about whether long-established insurers can deliver clear, straightforward options for retailers and associations that don’t have the leverage of bigger players.
Cuban’s comments came during a debate about whether major insurance carriers should partner with retailers and associations to offer health plans.
The insurance sector in the USA has long been infamous for its inefficiency. Mark Cuban’s remarks line up with his long-running interest in shaking up established sectors and pushing for fresher thinking. He has a long track record of calling for change in industries that tend to move slowly.
This mindset of disrupting inefficient industries is the same one that led him to build Cost Plus Drugs. How insurers and the broader market react to his comments is still unclear. It is possible that new options could surface if his criticism gains traction.
Mark’s Criticism
The Mavericks owner took to Twitter (X) to explain his disdain, saying, “The big insurance carriers will not only do what they do today, but they will also create more information asymmetry for the associations and retailers than what we see today. Which will allow them to do more of all the fucked up things they do today.”
“The ACA has failed because you and your peers, on both sides, did nothing to stop insurance carriers and hospital networks from becoming the behemoths they are today.”
On PBMs
According to Cuban, “They will continue to underpay or not pay everyone they can. They will continue to use their PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) to rip off patients. Do you really think they will suddenly make their PBMs honest when they sell through Costco, Amazon, Home Depot, whoever? Hell no. They will make it worse.”
On Market Inefficiency
He went on to add that, “I’m all for ending state line restrictions. Allowing docs to start their own hospitals, but you have to recognize the current market is not efficient. Not close at all. This allows the behemoths, carriers, and hospital networks to be economically abusive.”
He concluded his point on X by saying, “Get the DOJ and FTC to look at breaking up these enormous companies, and then you might have some real, transparent competition that benefits from consumers shopping for themselves.”
Growing Gaps Between Innovation and Outdated Industry Practices
Cuban’s position fits with the larger issues he has been calling out in other sectors. It is either the lack of clarity or the influence of groups that benefit from keeping things the way they are.
The criticism of big insurance is very much in line with what he previously stated about prescription drug costs when pharmacy benefit managers enter the picture. Other avenues where Mark has pushed for the same include the ticketing market as well.
Day after day, fast-moving technology is exposing how outdated some traditional practices have become. Cuban’s comments add pressure to a system already facing scrutiny, and whether major carriers respond or ignore the criticism remains to be seen.
