Mark Cuban Says His Healthcare Pricing Beats the System — Does It?
Prescription medication is expensive. Healthcare is, too. So when you’re promised (or seemingly promised) lower prices but you don’t get them, you’d be right in being disappointed.
This is something that’s happened with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs program and the Team Cuban card. People who’ve used them don’t always get the low prices they’re quoted. Sometimes, the pharmacy charges significantly more than the mail order pricing.
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So why is this and does it mean the program doesn’t work? Put simply, no. Cuban’s healthcare pricing can (and often does) beat the system. It’s just a bit more complicated than it might seem.
It Works but There’s a Structural Flaw
On the official Cost Plus Drug website, it’s mentioned that people can save more than 70% on their prescriptions. Right now, though, the company only covers around 60% of generic medications across all groups.
This is fairly straightforward. Where things get complicated is the pricing on the Cost Plus website compared to what people are actually spending at the pharmacy. In many cases, the in-store pricing is higher than the online quote.
“My part D plan has high prices that I wasn’t expecting when I signed up with them (WellCare) so I compared prices with Mark Cuban and Amazon pharmacy,” L_B_L wrote on a Reddit post. “Mark Cuban was cheaper and covered all my prescriptions. So I signed up and also got the Team Cuban card to get my prescriptions filled locally. When my pharmacy filled the orders they were MUCH HIGHER [sic] than Mark Cuban’s website.”
The reason for this comes down to how the two programs — Cost Plus versus the Team Cuban Card — are structured. Specifically, Cost Plus is for mail orders, while the Team Cuban Card is for retail and local pharmacies.
“Cost Plus Drugs openly acknowledges that distribution costs vary by supplier,” said Dr. Mike Daniels, president and chief medical officer at WeTreatFeet Podiatry. “The website for the card (TeamCubanCard.com) is actually the correct reference point for what you'll pay in person, not CostPlusDrugs.com. However, almost nobody knows that distinction exists.”
Part of the reason for why it’s so unclear is because the medications listed on each site are different. The prices themselves differ largely due to distribution costs across channels and suppliers.
Emotional Backlash for Cuban’s Healthcare Pricing System
On the Cost Plus Drug website, it clearly states: “Our wholesale business passes through supplier pricing with a transparent 15% markup.” It’s a transparent pricing model as far mail-order prescriptions go.
The problem is, pharmacies can add their own processing or shipping fees, which can jack up the in-person (Team Cuban Card) pricing. When these fees aren’t clearly relayed, it can lead to emotional backlash. None of it’s meant to trick people, but it can be stressful to those who don’t know how the system works.
For Redditor L_B_L, they quoted the following price differences for two of their medications.
Liothyronine Sodium
$34.30 at a local pharmacy
$21.50 by mail order
Tirosint
$306.08 at a local pharmacy
$160.25 by mail order
That’s a massive cost differential (around $159 in total per month) and when you’re not expecting it, it can be hard to stomach.
“When a workaround [you’re] counting on doesn't pan out at the counter, [you] don't just feel disappointed, [you] become disenfranchised,” Daniels said. “I think that’s a reasonable response to a legitimately messy situation.”
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