Entrepreneurs Like Mark Cuban are Addressing Healthcare Middlemen Since Congress Won’t

Billionaire Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently made a splash into the world of prescription drugs. The entrepreneur launched a platform that allows Americans to access medicine more directly from manufacturers — no insurance plan or healthcare middlemen required. The result will be more affordable treatments and therapies for patients.  

Cheers to that. Drug costs have been ballooning for decades. Since 2000, expenditures on prescription drugs have nearly tripled in the U.S. The question is why? To the chagrin of keyboard warriors on Twitter, the problem isn’t as simple as placing the blame on “greedy” corporations.

In reality, the major drivers of skyrocketing consumer costs are the middlemen of the drug supply chain called Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).

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Mr. Cuban’s pharmaceutical venture is one example of free market innovation helping to remedy a problem created by misguided government action. The workaround is constructive, but our elected leaders in Congress should address the root of the problem: Supply chain middlemen, armed with the government’s stamp of approval, jacking-up the price of your medicine.

Read the full op-ed in RealClear Policy by Elaine Parker, President of the Job Creators Network Foundation.