Mark Cuban is weighing in on the future of U.S. healthcare, saying it should be a right but stressing the complexity of designing a system that works fairly for both patients and providers.
In a recent post on X, Cuban wrote, “I think healthcare is a right. The only challenge is how we design the system that works in this country.”
He noted that while universal healthcare is often seen as the obvious solution, the United States faces unique hurdles compared to countries that adopted universal coverage decades ago.
“The easy answer is to say Universal Healthcare. The challenge is that every single country that has UHC, moved to it before medical science introduced advanced expensive equipment,” Cuban said.
He argued that directly copying foreign models is not realistic, adding, “The idea that converting to UHC is the same as other countries have done, is not accurate.”
Balancing Access And Sustainability
For Cuban, the toughest part is figuring out how to guarantee care for everyone without putting providers and doctors out of business.
“The hard part is finding the path to getting everyone care, in a way that is fair, while not bankrupting providers and doctors,” he said.
He believes a new model is possible, one that does not rely on traditional insurance companies or patient premiums.
“I do think there is a path, without insurance companies being the fulcrum for care. Without requiring premiums. With taxpayers guaranteeing the portion of care the patient can’t afford,” Cuban wrote.
The Problem With High Deductibles
Cuban has also drawn attention to affordability gaps in the Affordable Care Act.
He asked AI platform Grok, “What is the average deductible for ACA plans? What percentage of plan holders have the ability to pay for their deductible?”
Grok responded that average 2025 deductibles are about $7,500 for Bronze plans, $5,000–$6,000 for Silver plans, and $1,500–$2,000 for Gold plans.
It also cited research showing that more than 40% of U.S. households lack the assets to cover a typical deductible.
When another person blamed Democrats and the Affordable Care Act for high costs, Cuban pushed back.
“Nope. It’s the fact that we let the payers, politicians, and others game the system to a point that it no longer can do all that it was intended to do,” he said.
Cuban’s Takeaway
Cuban is not calling for an immediate switch to universal healthcare but is pressing for a system that ensures access without crushing medical providers.
At the heart of his message is the belief that healthcare should be treated as a right, but designing a fair and sustainable system will require moving beyond insurance-driven models and tackling systemic inefficiencies.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Mark Cuban” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.