After President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed to lower the prices of prescription drugs in the U.S., Trump supporter billionaire Bill Ackman wrote on X: “The best way to reduce drug prices in the U.S. is to make it illegal for drug companies to sell the same drugs abroad for lower prices than they sell them for here.
“This will force a globally negotiated price that will be lower than the prices that U.S. consumers pay now and higher than what foreigners pay now.”
Ackman added: “Otherwise we are stuck with a system where American consumers subsidize drug development for the rest of the world. Ask any pharma company CEO. They will agree that the above approach will have the intended effect.”
Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban, who endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024, responded to Ackman: “The manufacturers aren’t the big problem Bill. They could sell brand meds for far far less, and in some cases lower than other countries TODAY, IF you take the big PBMs out of the middle.”
Note: PBM — Pharmacy Benefit Managers — are the companies that administer prescription drug benefits for health plans, large employers, and other payers; they negotiating drug prices and processing claims.
The manufacturers aren't the big problem Bill. They could sell brand meds for far far less, and in some cases lower than other countries TODAY , IF you take the big PBMs out of the middle.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 12, 2025
And YOU are part of the problem Bill I'll bet you signed a pharmacy benefits deal… https://t.co/bZAkbtJe2B
Cuban added: “And YOU are part of the problem Bill I’ll bet you signed a pharmacy benefits deal with a big PBM? Tomorrow, call them and ask for a list of your claims, and the net drug price paid for each. Ask them for a net price list, after rebates that you can verify. Ask them if you can talk to say Lilly to discuss a GLP1 Wellness program. Ask them why they under reimburse pharmacies for less than their cost to help YOUR employees.
“Let me know how long they laugh at you.”
Cuban, whose CostPlus Drug Company is disrupting the prescription sector, continued: “The issue is that CEOs have NO CLUE about their pharmacy or healthcare benefits. So they work with the PBMs that cause this mess, assuming their consultants are doing the right thing for them
“You enable the problem by working with those PBMs Bill.
“And of course its not just you. It’s almost every big company CEO This EO can have a huge impact. But it has to be built around transparency and removing the middlemen.”
Note: Details related to the executive order were not released but White House officials said they will initiate negotiations between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helmed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the pharmaceutical industry.
Cuban wrote a similar reply to MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, again asserting that “this EO has a real shot,” but only if it aims at PBMs. “Make them disclose all claims to employers and manufacturers,” Cuban told Kirk, “and we may be able to get brand meds cheaper than many countries.”
Charlie , you aren't close. Drug prices are too damn high. But the big culprit isn't the brand manufacturers, it's the big middlemen. Namely PBMs. They work so hard to distort pricing the first lines in their contracts with everyone is "you can't disclose any of this "
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 12, 2025
How bad… https://t.co/oMnlvlOPtl
