Billionaire Mark Cuban argues that soaring health care costs, rather than artificial intelligence, represent the greater threat to employment.

Cuban is best known to many people as a former investor on Shark Tank and as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks for more than two decades. But since founding the online discount pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs in 2022, he has become increasingly involved in the mechanics of the U.S. health care industry.

In an X post last month, Cuban wrote: “I hope people realize that for the foreseeable future, the cost of health care benefits will get more people fired, or not hired, than AI.”

His comments come as companies prepare to pass higher health care expenses on to employees and scrutinize headcount more closely, in part because of the influence of AI tools. Employer-sponsored plans are the most common source of health coverage for working-age Americans, meaning shifts in what companies spend on benefits feed directly into hiring budgets and household expenses.

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country, and spending has risen sharply over the past two decades. According to the latest available figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. health care spending reached $5.3 trillion in 2024, or about 18% of gross domestic product. That was more than double the $2.5 trillion spent in 2000.

The U.S. also stands out among other wealthy nations. In 2024, it spent $14,775 per person on health care, almost twice the $7,860 per-person average in other high-income countries, even though some studies indicate that Americans use less care on average, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.

Health care costs have increased every year for the past five years, according to a survey of more than 1,800 employers by global consulting firm Mercer. The company estimates that health care costs per employee could rise 8.2% in 2027, which would be the largest increase since 2003.

Nearly half of large U.S. employers with at least 500 employees said they expect to change their medical plans next year to accommodate higher costs, Mercer found. Potential changes include higher deductibles or copayments, which would increase employees’ out-of-pocket expenses.

Some workers may also pay for rising costs through lost employment. A 2024 paper published by Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy found that a 1% increase in health care prices corresponds to an approximately 0.4% decline in payroll and employment among employers outside the health sector.

“Rather than cutting wages, employers respond to increases in insurance premiums by cutting the number of workers they employ,” the paper saidn
Health care costs have risen in recent years partly because of higher labor costs, new technology and more expensive treatments, including GLP-1 medications. Experts have also cited deeper structural factors in the U.S. system, including hospital consolidation and rising administrative expenses, as contributors. The Commonwealth Fund and the KFF have examined factors behind high spending and rising premiums.

For the past four years, Cuban has promoted Cost Plus Drugs as an alternative for consumers seeking lower-priced medicines. He says the company can offer lower prices by excluding pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. The three largest PBMs manage about 80% of all prescription claims in the U.S., according to nonprofit health policy organization KFF, which has documented the role of PBMs and federal efforts to regulate them.

Cuban has also drawn attention to the health care costs companies face. In a March post, he said rising health care expenses cost companies $30,000 per family for premiums and care. That figure is close to the average annual premium for family coverage, which reached $26,993 in 2025, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey.

Employers pay most of that premium, but Cuban said companies must also invest in the overhead required to manage the expenses, creating an additional burden.

“It’s usually the second largest expense after payroll. Which is insane,” he wrote.

Cuban has previously argued that rising health care costs should be addressed at the federal level. In March, he expressed support for the Break Up Big Medicine Act, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. The bill would prohibit certain forms of vertical integration in health care by preventing insurers, PBMs, and major drug or medical-device wholesalers from also owning certain medical providers. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and has not been passed. Whether the bill advances out of committee is one concrete development to watch as the debate over benefit costs and employment continues.

At the same time, concerns about AI-related job displacement are increasing. A recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that 11 million workers, or about 7% of the workforce, may need to find new jobs as some occupations decline. McKinsey nevertheless maintains that AI and other economic shifts could ultimately create more jobs than they eliminate.

As of last month, however, the Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center at Yale, found no “clear evidence of labor market disruption associated with AI.” Researchers said occupational churn had continued along pre-AI trends.

That has not stopped companies from citing AI in layoff announcements. AI was the leading reason given for layoffs this year, appearing in 21% of all announcements year to date, according to global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That gap between corporate announcements and the labor data remains a key tension to watch as both debates unfold.

Cuban argued in his March post that one of the largest causes of job losses is still being overlooked.

“It’s far easier to blame AI than it is to blame health care costs,” he wrote.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com: https://fortune.com/2026/10/08/mark-cuban-on-why-ai-is-the-wrong-job-killer-target-its-the-healthcare-costs-stupid/