Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, known for his sharp views and public criticism of Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign, has surprised many by praising a new executive order signed by Trump to lower prescription drug prices.
Cuban called the move a “potential game-changer” and said it could save the country hundreds of billions of dollars.
He posted his reaction on X (formerly Twitter), where he highlighted how the order could reduce the influence of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, who are often blamed for driving up drug costs through hidden fees and rebates.
Mark Cuban’s interest in lowering drug prices is not new. He started his own company, Cost Plus Drugs, in 2022.
The goal was to make medicines more affordable by offering transparent pricing with only a 15% fixed markup. His company now sells over 2,500 medications online, focusing on cutting out the middlemen and bringing prices down for regular people.
This is why Cuban sees Trump’s executive order as a major step forward. He believes the current system allows PBMs too much control.
These middlemen decide which medicines get included in drug plans, and often favor more expensive drugs because they earn higher rebates. According to Cuban, this model hurts both patients and small, independent pharmacies.
In his post, Cuban didn’t just praise the order. He also shared a list of reforms he thinks are necessary to fix the system.
One key idea is to remove PBMs from the decision-making process when it comes to drug formularies. This would help avoid conflicts of interest where PBMs profit from pushing certain drugs.
Cuban also said PBMs should be required to share data with employers, drugmakers, and state governments so that everyone involved can make informed decisions.
Another issue he raised is the pricing of specialty drugs. These are medicines for serious or rare conditions, and their prices are often extremely high.
Cuban believes that ending inflated pricing in this category could save a lot of money and make these treatments more accessible.
He also spoke out about independent pharmacies not being properly reimbursed under current pricing rules. Many of these small businesses struggle because they are forced to sell generic medicines at a loss.
Cuban also took a stand against confidentiality clauses in contracts between PBMs and employers. These clauses stop companies from negotiating directly with drugmakers for better prices.
By removing these clauses, Cuban says the whole system could become more transparent and competitive. He also criticized the practice of switching out affordable drugs for more expensive, branded versions that PBMs profit from.
In his post, Cuban mentioned another hidden cost: the data that drugmakers have to buy just to understand how their drugs are being used.
Right now, they pay 5% to 10% of a drug’s price to access this data. Cuban argues that making this data freely available could reduce costs and help improve the system overall.
Cuban’s strong support has drawn attention, especially since he was such a loud opponent of Trump during the 2024 campaign, when he backed Kamala Harris for president.
But when it comes to healthcare reform, especially drug pricing, Cuban seems willing to support ideas that align with his own mission to make medicines affordable.
Other leaders also welcomed the move. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law to stop PBMs from owning pharmacies and said that these middlemen have abused the system for too long. She blamed them for rising drug prices and reduced access to medicines.
The White House also issued a statement backing the executive order. They said President Trump is continuing his effort to make healthcare more affordable, just like he promised.
According to the White House, the goal is to build a more competitive, transparent, and fair system for prescription drugs in the United States.
Under the new executive order, the Department of Health and Human Services has been directed to take the lead in implementing these changes. The focus will be on removing hidden costs, increasing transparency, and making sure Americans pay less for their medications.
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