Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is doubling down on his belief that medical school in the United States should be tuition-free.
In a post on X, Cuban defended healthcare workers, saying doctors and nurses “get sh*t on daily” and calling it “insane” that some surgeons perform up to 10 operations a day. He added that public medical schools should be free.
Cuban’s post came in response to Heath Veuleman who criticized the idea that doctors are underpaid, pointing out that the median salary for physicians is around $350,000 and for hospital CEOs roughly $1.1 million.
But Cuban’s comment wasn’t about greed, it was about pressure and burnout in the profession.
A Push for Free Medical Education
The billionaire has been consistent in his view that the high cost of medical school drives doctors to make financial decisions that ultimately hurt patients and the healthcare system.
“There are 100k students in med school each year. Room and board is about 100k per year. For $10B a year, med school could be free,” Cuban wrote earlier this year on Bluesky.
He said such an investment “would see a change in the profession, career paths, and the cost of care.”
Cuban believes making medical school free would remove the financial pressure that forces students into higher-paying specialties instead of primary care or rural medicine.
He also suggested private companies could help fund medical education in exchange for future employment commitments, especially as technology and AI reshape healthcare.
Ongoing Debate Over Doctor Pay and Costs
Cuban’s latest post started a big online debate about where the money in healthcare really goes.
One person claimed that most doctors operate like corporations and write off massive expenses.
Cuban replied, “Most are part of PE or insurance company owned practices. They do it because they are required to, or have to in order to make their bonuses.”
Others in the thread shared frustration over high hospital bills, with one parent saying their insurance paid $68,000 for a four-day hospital stay with minimal care.
Some blamed doctors for restricting the number of medical school spots and limiting the ability of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to expand their scope of care.
A surgical resident joined the conversation to highlight the reality of training.
He said he worked more hours in nine years of medical education than most people do in a lifetime, earning below minimum wage while carrying heavy student debt.
Even now, he said he works more than 80 hours per week and often misses family events.
Another person agreed that medical schools should be free but argued that U.S. doctors remain overpaid compared to their peers in countries with better healthcare outcomes.
Policy Changes Could Make Things Worse
Cuban’s renewed comments came shortly after the Senate passed a tax bill that caps student borrowing for medical and other professional degrees at $200,000.
Critics warn that the cap could push more students toward expensive private loans and discourage low-income or first-generation students from pursuing medicine.
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine President John L. Hummer told Politico that many students entering medical education “more times than not, don’t have co-signers,” making the new limits particularly harmful.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who earned his medical degree in 1987 when costs were much lower, was unsympathetic.
“Anyone who is paying more than $100,000 to go to school is making a huge mistake,” he said.
A Strategic Investment in the Future
Cuban frames free medical education as a long-term investment in national health.
More doctors, he says, would improve access to care and allow illnesses to be caught earlier, resulting in better outcomes.
He pointed to philanthropic examples that show what’s possible: Ruth Gottesman’s $1 billion gift made tuition free for all students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, while Michael Bloomberg’s $1 billion donation to Johns Hopkins University eliminated tuition for medical students from middle-income families.
“Public medical schools should be free,” Cuban said. And given the strain on healthcare workers and the mounting debt facing future doctors, many online agreed it might be time for the U.S. to seriously consider it.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Mark Cuban” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.