Here's a sentence you don't hear every day: Mark Cuban is defending a Trump administration initiative. The billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Costplusdrugs.com took to social media platform X to praise TrumpRx, a prescription drug platform launched by President Donald Trump, for its work in reducing medication costs.
"Everyone wants me to rip on TrumpRx. Reality is, it's saving patients money on IVF and a few other drugs. A lot of money," wrote the "Shark Tank" star.
He didn't stop there. Cuban went on to highlight the team behind the effort, name-checking Director of Medicare Chris Klomp, Deputy National Coordinator at HHS Mark Atalla, and Director of the CMS Innovation Center Abe Sutton. "TrumpRx is just getting started," he added, framing his post as a direct rebuttal to a recent NBC News article that criticized the platform for not doing enough to combat rising drug prices.
Cuban's argument hinges on a simple premise: the platform appears focused on helping patients, even at the expense of the insurance industry. He pointedly noted that TrumpRx refused insurance industry price hikes—a move he suggested was so significant it even hurt insurers' stock prices.
He was referring to the Trump administration's proposed lower-than-expected Medicare insurer rates, which earlier this year triggered a notable drop in the share prices of major health insurers like UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), Humana Inc. (HUM), and CVS Health Corp. (CVS).
Cuban Urges Patience on Drug Reform
Launched in February, TrumpRx aims to provide consumers with access to more affordable prescription medications. The platform has reportedly secured discounts on several drugs from a roster of pharmaceutical heavyweights, including AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Eli Lilly And Co (LLY), EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk (NVO), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and others.
This isn't the first time Cuban has come to the platform's defense, even though he admitted to initial skepticism. Earlier this month, in an interview with Margaret Hoover from PBS News, he called for patience and urged support for any efforts to expand access to affordable medications.
"Give them a chance," Cuban said. "Anything that opens the door for lower price medications I'm a fan of."
The billionaire has long been a vocal critic of rising drug prices and insurance industry practices. His advocacy has even extended to urging Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK) to reconsider its healthcare insurance investments to catalyze larger systemic change. His latest comments suggest he's willing to support cost-cutting efforts from unexpected quarters, provided they deliver real savings for patients.
