Mark Cuban: health care costs kill jobs faster than AI
US health care spending hit $5.3 trillion in 2024; Cuban warns rising insurance premiums are costing more jobs than artificial intelligence.
Mark Cuban says companies are more likely to cut jobs because of soaring health care costs than AI. 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."
The US spends more on health care than any other country. As of 2024, that bill stood at $5.3 trillion, or about 18% of the entire economy.
That's almost double the $2.5 trillion spent in 2000. Companies are already passing higher costs to workers.
Nearly half of large US employers plan to raise deductibles or copays next year. One 2024 Yale study found that a 1% rise in health care prices leads to roughly 0.4% fewer jobs at companies outside the health sector.
Cuban founded Cost Plus Drugs in 2022, an online pharmacy cutting out middlemen to offer cheaper medicines. He argues employers respond to rising insurance premiums by hiring fewer people.
Mercer estimates health care costs per employee could jump 8.2% in 2027, the biggest increase since 2003.
- 5.3 trillion dollars
- US health care spending 2024
- 14,775 dollars
- US health care per person
- 8.2 percent
- Cost increase forecast 2027
Why it mattersHealth care costs are cutting jobs at companies outside the health sector faster than expected, a factor often overlooked in the AI jobs debate.
AustraliaAustralian employers watching US trends closely often follow suit on benefits and hiring; high US health care costs signal the pressure Australian companies may face if wage growth doesn't keep pace.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 10 h ago
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