Mark Cuban: Elizabeth Warren's Medicare-for-all will take years to achieve
Health care is a "right" and there may be an opportunity for a "hybrid plan"
Elizabeth Warren unveiled a massive overhaul of the U.S. health care system in her single-payer Medicare-for-all plan. However, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes the proposal will take years to accomplish.
“Getting from where we are, to getting there is not something you can accomplish in 4, 8, 12, or even 20 years,” Cuban told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo.
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Cuban does, however, believes that health care is a right for everyone and that there is a need for people with lower incomes to have access to healthcare. This, he suggested, may indicate an opportunity for a “hybrid plan.”
“Maybe we can expand Medicaid and Medicare and still have a good capitalist system for health care in the middle,” Cuban said.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, speaks during a candidate forum on labor issues in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Business, he argued, cannot operate when there are communities where there is “disruption and social unrest” and so these areas need a basis of health care.
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One of the problems with the health care industry, according to Cuban, is a misalignment of incentives between payers and providers.
“The goal of, hopefully, a health care system is to make people healthy," he said. "And so you don’t get that, you know, when payers, the insurance companies, and the providers work together.”
Cuban described this as a “malicious circle,” suggesting that the parties involved charge each other more in order to make more money.
“None of their metrics have to do with making people healthier,” he said.
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The billionaire businessman does not believe the rise of high deductible insurance programs will lead to the growth of a consumer market in health care or lead to customers shopping for health care pricing. He argued high deductible programs are problematic because they make up such a high percentage of their actual income making it more difficult for them to get care.
Additionally, he noted that people don’t shop for care, they make these decisions based on who they trust.
He also believes that artificial intelligence will help the industry.
“As you get more into artificial intelligence and be able to use data more smartly, then you’re going to see a lot of benefits, particularly in radiology,” he said.