Mark Cuban offers changes for Affordable Care Act at Phoenix event

PHOENIX — The owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks told a Phoenix audience on Wednesday that he knows how to fix the Affordable Care Act.

Mark Cuban, who regularly appears as a “shark” investor on the long-running business reality show “Shark Tank,” said at the Arizona Tech Innovation Summit that his plan beats the current option.

“If you’re about to die, and you need a heart transplant, and you don’t have insurance, your best option: your friends tell you to go to GoFundMe,” he said.

Cuban told the conference audience that Americans should pay what they can afford — based on income — for health insurance.

He said he also wants direct payments to providers.

“We have $45 billion a year for patients, and $40 billion for the federal government,” Cuban calculated, adding that he consulted the most left-wing economists he could find.

Cuban said he also wants roles for insurance companies reduced because of their rising administrative costs to negotiate health-care rates with hospitals.

Also during his presentation, Cuban said cannabis is not the next place for entrepreneurs to go.

If there are 10,000 cannabis sellers, why be 10,001? ⁦@mcuban⁩ talks entrepreneurship in #PHX. @ktar923 pic.twitter.com/SfxqGnD4K4

— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) March 20, 2019

“The emails I get, and people come up to me — ‘Dude, dude, cannabis, it’s the future,'” Cuban said, prompting laughs. “It’s no different than any other business.”

Cuban’s talk had motivational elements. He said the one thing attendees can control for their own success is their effort.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, that’s the difference between being successful and not being successful,” Cuban said.

He also told the crowd not to fear failure or humiliation, because they only need to be right once.

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