Mark Cuban calls out Minnesota bill on prescription drug pricing

Mark Cuban shakes up pharmacy pricing

Mark Cuban is best known for business and basketball, but lately, his passion has been shaking up the pharmaceutical world by showing the wholesale costs of many generic drugs and an independent pharmacist from Minnesota was among those he consulted with for wholesale pricing.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Billionaire businessman and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban called out legislation being considered in Minnesota to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the companies that are currently under heavy scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission for inflating the prices of prescription drugs.

Pharmacy benefit managers accused of hiking drug prices

The backstory:

Pharmacy benefit managers or PBM’S are the middlemen that negotiate drug prices for health plans. Over the last two decades, the companies have started to merge, with three companies, Express Scripts, Optum RX and CVS Caremark, setting the prices for 80 percent of prescriptions, according to the FTC.

FOX 9 has extensively reported on pharmacy benefit managers as the companies faced a review by the FTC, while looking at the impact they've had on small pharmacies. A report earlier this year found the companies sometimes drastically increased the price of prescription drugs, in some instances jacking up the prices by 1,000 percent or more.

According to the FTC investigation, the PBM’s do that by labeling some drugs as "specialty" and then require health plan consumers to use the PBM’s pharmacy system, often mail order, where they can control the price.

In one case, the FTC found PBMs were billing health plans between $2,000 and $6,000 per month for the cancer drug Imatinib. The same drug can be purchased on Cuban's online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs, or in cash at the pharmacy counter for $34.50 for a 30-day supply.

Mark Cuban speaks onstage during the 2025 SXSW Conference and Festival at Hilton Austin on March 10, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Julia Beverly/WireImage)

Mark Cuban calls for changes to MN bill

Big picture view:

Cuban started his company Cost Plus Drugs to take on inflated drug prices in the United States.

The online pharmacy prices drugs by their cost plus the cost of preparing and shipping the prescription. Unfortunately, the site currently only carries generic drugs.

Local perspective:

Pharmacy benefit manager regulation is part of an omnibus health bill up for consideration in the Minnesota legislature. This bill aims to increase the transparency of prescription drug prices for Minnesota's Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare programs by establishing a state PBM and requiring it to report all negotiated prices, rebates, and discounts to the state commissioner.

In a post on X on Sunday, Cuban says he believes the bill won't be effective as written. He urged lawmakers to consider changes, including:

Requiring transparent net pricing that would be reported to the state.
Eliminating medication tiers and rebates, so drugs have a single price.
Sharing claims data on drug pricing with the state.
Allowing cheaper pharmacies to join the state network if they can beat the prices of the state PBM.

"All it is doing is saying you want more details, but keep doing business the way your PBMs always have," wrote Cuban. "They will just move things around to different places. Thats what they are great it Their fave spot to create new money is patient out of pocket and biosimilars, among other places."

Cuban tagged Gov. Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar, asking them to share the suggestions with state lawmakers.

Cracking down on PBMs

Other actions:

In April, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced an action by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general to urge Congress to take on PBMs.

Ellison said the group of 39 AGs are asking Congress to prohibit PBMs from owning or operating pharmacies.

Dig deeper:

FOX 9 continues to cover this issue, and you can check out our previous reports here: