The Indicator from Planet Money · Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Mark Cuban, co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs, expressed skepticism about the projected savings of a Medicare for All system, particularly a Yale study's estimate of $286 billion in fraud reduction. He argued that the study's assumption about fraud savings, based on a 2003 Taiwanese healthcare transition, is an inappropriate comparison to the current US system.
“The Yale study writers assume that overall fraud in the healthcare system would go down by $286 billion under a Medicare for All system and that one healthcare payer provides fewer opportunities to scam.”
“And when you go down and look, it was from an article written in 2003 about the chaotic transition of Taiwan in 1995.”
“There's just, it's apples and oranges. You can't apply one to the other.”