Mark Cuban, who owns Cost Plus Drugs, is throwing his support behind the congressional “Break Up Big Medicine Act.” Cuban points out that most families pay upwards of $30,000 per year for premiums and healthcare costs. The only ones who benefit from these skyrocketing costs are the massive insurance companies that own both pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and healthcare providers, which enables them to control the healthcare industry.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo, introduced this bipartisan legislation earlier this year. The Act would prohibit companies from owning both a health insurer or PBM and a medical provider or management services organization. Furthermore, the parent company of any prescription drug or medical device wholesaler would be unable to own a medical provider or management services organization. Companies would have one year from the effective date of the Act to come into compliance.
Currently, the nation’s three largest PBMs manage 80% of prescription drug claims, and three prescription drug wholesalers control 98% of the distribution of those drugs across the nation. Under the current system, corporations are vertically integrated, in that one company can own or control every part of the healthcare supply chain, including health insurance, PBMs, pharmacies, and medical care providers. This integration allows a company to steer business to its own affiliates or subsidiaries, which permits it to achieve limitless profits.
Cuban is further encouraging Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a longtime advocate for Medicare coverage for all, to support the Act. According to Cuban, the Act would make healthcare more affordable for everyone and increase jobs, wages, and overall economic health in the United States. Cuban states that allowing insurance companies to continue their vertical integration tactics increases costs for everyone as they persist in gaming and abusing the system.
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