Mark Cuban fighting Healthcare Capitalism with a Twist

Mark Cuban launched a brand new online pharmacy, similar to Smart Script or any other online pharmacy BUT different in many regards.

As anyone with a pulse and an insurance card knows, the pharmaceutical system and drug companies are insane and have the sick American public by their necks. They are all members of an elite club who decide how to screw the American public at every turn.

The pharmaceutical companies either develop new drugs in-house or purchase the patent from researchers and “own” the specific formulary to prevent any other developer from utilizing this same drug. They then get to decide how much to charge the individual, sometimes in excess of thousands of dollars. That cost gets forwarded on to the consumers through pharmacies. The major pharmacy conglomerates do deals with the drug companies and the insurance companies to try to get the most affordable drugs for their company, then they make a large profit by up charging the patient.

 And don’t even get me started on the up charging that hospitals and insurance companies do while in bed together…Anyway, back to the show.

Mark Cuban enters the scene with his new drug company: Cost Plus Drug Company.

This online pharmacy sends your medications to you once your doctor sends them the script. His company has over 100 generic medications. This pharmacy accepts only cash and not insurance, however much of the time this is still cheaper than using insurance.  

The reason he can charge these prices is related to cutting out the preverbal middle man at every possible turn.  Pharmacy benefit manager are nonexistent in his company. Typically this person would negotiate with  companies to create rebates and cost savings for their own company at the expense of the patient. Because they refuse to pay “spread prices”, they are not able to bill through the traditional insurance-based model.

Cost Plus Drug is trying to manufacture its own products with a factory starting in Dallas, but right now they are buying directly from third party suppliers.

Mark Cubans company will compete with pharmacy giants like Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens who have no transparency in drug pricing.

has always left consumers with a bad taste in their mouth, however, the popular opinion is there are no better options, so just expect to get screwed.

Its shortcomings include a limited amount of medications, no brand name medications, and they are unable to manufacture the medications that are still brand new.

I am rooting for his company to succeed. This can change the course the dismal healthcare system in the United States. This could change hospital billing, pharmaceutical manufactures, insurance companies, and of course pharmaceutical companies.  

Perhaps while leading by example he will show companies that they can still be self sufficient while doing good in the word. Perhaps the American public will demand more transparency with every other healthcare entity.

Perhaps, the American public will show these big companies how they feel by utilizing the age-old capitalist marker of value, the American Dollar.