Mark Cuban says he got into pharmaceuticals because some of his Republican friends asked if he had an Obamacare alternative

• Mark Cuban started his low-cost online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs, in 2022.
• Cuban said he started looking into the pharmaceutical business in 2017.
• What prompted the move was friends in the GOP who asked Cuban if he had an Obamacare alternative, he said.

Shark Tank star Mark Cuban says his interest in the US healthcare system began after his GOP friends asked him if he could come up with a replacement for Obamacare.

"Going back to 2018 or 2017, being here in Texas, I had some Republican friends who were asking me questions like, 'Do you have any ideas how the Republicans can replace the ACA, Obamacare?'" Cuban said in an episode of the Hims House podcast, which aired on Tuesday.

"I'm like, 'No, but it's an interesting question. Let me see if I can come up with some ideas.' So that got me into healthcare. The ideas, you know, never got that far, but it really got me, turned me into a healthcare geek," Cuban added.

Cuban said his interest led him to pay for studies to find out why healthcare costs more in the US compared to countries like Canada.

"It became very obvious the more I dug in, that there was zero transparency, no transparency, and that there were a lot of vested interests that wanted opacity. They want it to be as opaque as possible so that people can't make good decisions when it comes to their healthcare," Cuban said on the podcast.

Back in 2017, Cuban detailed his own plan to fix Obamacare on his blog "Blog Maverick." Cuban called for a single-payer coverage system for chronic physical or mental illness and for any life-threatening injury.

"Everything not covered by the above can be covered by insurance sold on the free market, managed by the states, sold across state lines, without government interference," Cuban wrote.

Later, in 2022, Cuban cofounded Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Co., a low-cost online pharmacy.

Unlike its competitors, Cost Plus Drugs keeps costs low by sourcing its drugs directly from manufacturers and eliminating the extra costs imposed by pharmaceutical middlemen. Customers pay a 15% markup to Cost Plus Drugs, as well as a fixed $5 labor charge for each medication and $5 for shipping.

"We are completely transparent, with the same price for anyone and everyone," Cuban told Business Insider's Hilary Brueck in a story published in August. "We believe that when all data is transparent, then the market becomes efficient. At that point, prices will drop significantly."

More recently, Cuban expressed support for President Donald Trump's push to slash drug pricing and said he would be willing to pitch in to make pharmaceuticals cheaper.

"Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions," Cuban wrote on X in April.

Cuban also outlined five ways he thought drug prices could be regulated in that post. The post was a marked departure from Cuban's criticism of Trump on tariffs and other matters, as well as his strong support for then-Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential run against Trump in 2024.

"Put me in coach! I'm here to help," Cuban wrote on X.

Cuban did not respond to a request for comment from BI.