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Why Healthcare Prices Are Like Fight Club w/ Mark Cuban, Co-Founder, Cost Plus Drugs

Jun 26, 2026
37:18

Episode Description

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Nobody at the pharmacy counter knows the real price of their medication, and almost nobody in the system actually wants them to.

Mark Cuban, Co-Founder of Cost Plus Drugs, joins host John Driscoll on CareTalk to discuss why pharmacy benefit managers control 85% of drug formularies in this country, how spread pricing quietly inflates the cost of everything from generics to hip replacements, and why true price transparency, not just lower prices, is the real disruption Cost Plus Drugs has brought to a $5 trillion industry.

🎙️⚕️ABOUT MARK CUBAN
Mark Cuban is a self-made billionaire entrepreneur known for his early tech ventures like Broadcast.com, his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, and his role as a "Shark" on ABC's Shark Tank, investing in numerous startups and expanding into media, film, and healthcare, always championing innovation and disruption. 

In 2019, Mark co-founded Costplusdrugs.com with the aim of lowering generic drug prices for end consumers in the U.S., starting the company after receiving an email from a radiologist named Alex Oshmyansky, who pitched the idea of an online-based pharmacy. He often refers to Cost Plus Drugs as a critique and disruptor of the US health care system, including offering transparent, direct-to-consumer pricing and reducing the role of pharmacy benefit managers. 

Mark has earned a number of accolades including being named to the Texas Business Hall of Fame, the Horatio Alger Award, the SXSW Hall of Fame, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and GQ Man of the Year.

🎙️⚕️ABOUT CARETALK
CareTalk is a weekly podcast that provides an incisive, no B.S. view of the US healthcare industry. Join co-hosts John Driscoll (President U.S. Healthcare and EVP, Walgreens Boots Alliance) and David Williams (President, Health Business Group) as they debate the latest in US healthcare news, business and policy.

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At PIM Health, we’re building real-time payment infrastructure where providers don’t wait weeks to get paid, patients don’t leave without knowing exactly what they owe, and employers stop flying blind on their own plan spend. AR burden, gone. Surprise bills, gone. Prior auth delays, gone. Denials and appeals, gone.

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