Billionaire Mark Cuban’s new drug company has shown how the U.S. government could have saved billions of dollars in just a few months.
Cuban’s newest venture, Cost Plus Drugs, sells over 100 generic prescription medications at the cost of production, plus a 15% margin and $8 pharmacy dispensing and shipping fee. Medicare could have saved as much as $3.6 billion per year if it purchased the maximum quantity of generic drugs from Cost Plus Drugs, according to new research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
NEW STUDY: Medicare could have saved up to $3.6 billion in 2020 if it bought 77 generic drugs at prices by Mark Cuban’s @costplusdrugs prices! 💵💵💵
Published today in @AnnalsofIM with @bnrome @akesselheim via @PORTAL_Research
🧵 https://t.co/NDjH4U0ZB7 pic.twitter.com/UZGteRxPko
— Hussain Lalani (@DrHussainL) June 20, 2022
Researchers compared the price charged by Cost Plus Drugs for 89 generic medications to the cost for the same drugs paid by Medicare in 2020. They found the government program could have saved 37% on 77 generic drugs by buying from Cuban’s company.
Cost Plus Drugs launched in January and utilizes a direct-to-consumer system which bypasses wholesalers, pharmacies and insurers which frequently drive up the cost of medicine. As a result, the company offers many generic drugs at prices lower than what’s paid by Medicare and major insurers. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Green Introduces Bill To Expand Medical Freedom For Americans)
Medicare is one of the most expensive programs in the federal government and is rife with wasteful spending, according to numerous watchdog groups. The program had a budget of $644 billion in fiscal year 2019, accounting for about 14% of the total federal budget.