TEXAS — James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, released a healthcare plan designed to break up monopolies and lower prescription drug costs. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is supporting the proposal, which targets consolidation within the healthcare industry.

Talarico is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the 2026 U.S. Senate election. The candidate is attempting to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas since 1994. Talarico and Cuban will appear for a live event and podcast recording in Fort Worth on Saturday to discuss the healthcare plan.

"Mark and I agree it's time to break up the Big Medicine monopolies that control our broken healthcare system," Talarico said. He argued that healthcare consolidation is causing the cost of health insurance and care to rise. He stated that small, physician-owned practices are being bought out by larger hospital groups.

"Healthcare corporations are ripping us off — jacking up premiums and profiting off our pain. This plan will break up monopolies, lower medical debt, bring down the cost of prescription drugs, and ensure doctors decide what medication their patients need — not insurance companies."

Talarico supports antitrust legislation targeting vertically integrated health-care conglomerates, including pharmacy benefit managers, insurance companies, and hospital networks. Reports indicate that 90% of all hospital beds are controlled by large hospital systems. CVS Caremark, Cigna's Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth Group's Optum RX process roughly 80% of prescriptions nationwide.

The proposed legislation would bar pharmacy benefit managers from hiding pricing data. It would also create incentives to develop and approve generic drugs and institute caps on out-of-pocket costs. Greg Lopes, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, stated there is no evidence that vertically-integrated plans lead to higher costs.

"PBMs are the only part of the drug supply chain lowering prescription drug costs," Lopes said. He added that legislation targeting these entities would complicate the system. "One of the things American patients and families most dislike about our health care system is how fragmented and complex it is, and this legislation would only make that problem far worse — sending patients into a deeper maze of discontinuous care, Lopes said."

Cuban appeared in a podcast interview on August 21. During the appearance, he called Talarico honest" and said he would "do the right thing instead of the politically expedient thing." "I've spent a long time working to reduce the cost of healthcare for everybody – politicians in Washington have not. Whether you're a Republican, Democrat, or an independent – you want more affordable, better quality healthcare. The plan James has put together will accomplish exactly that, which is why I am supporting it, Cuban said.

Talarico released his second Spanish-language campaign ad on Tuesday, August 25. The ad, entitled A Los Guerreros," is slated to run in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Harlingen/McAllen, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and El Paso media markets. It notes Talarico's record of passing legislation to cap the price of insulin and states he passed more than 60 bipartisan bills in the Texas House."

Paxton released a Spanish-language ad focusing on his "Protecting the Texas Promise" agenda. Paxton has denied allegations against him and calls them politically motivated smears.

Talarico's campaign asked a court on Wednesday to release depositions involving Paxton. Lawyers for the campaign argued that keeping the depositions secret violates Texas’s constitutional guarantee that judicial proceedings be free and open to public scrutiny. The depositions involve a civil case where Unity Resources was accused of fraud. Paxton was connected to Unity Resources but was not a defendant in the fraud case, which was settled.

Talarico resurfaced video of Paxton pocketing an expensive pen at a courthouse security checkpoint. Paxton was impeached and later acquitted. He faced criminal charges for securities fraud which ended with an agreement involving restitution payments but no admission of guilt. Paxton defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary.

Why It Matters

The race is rated as a "toss-up" by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and recent polling shows Talarico and Paxton with similar support levels. A Texas Southern University poll shows Talarico leading Paxton 50 percent to 42 percent in Texas's 15th Congressional District, a district Donald Trump won by 18 points in 2024. The same poll shows Talarico leading Paxton 51 percent to 41 percent in the 28th District and 53 percent to 42 percent in the 34th District.

Republican strategist Mike Madrid stated that Talarico is speaking to Latino voters as a working class rather than as an ethnic group. Talarico is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, the lower house of Texas’ legislature. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company is a pharmaceuticals mail order retailer in Texas.

Timeline

Mark Cuban founded the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company in 2022. Coherus BioSciences received a notice letter from AbbVie Inc. on June 6, 2023, alleging a breach of settlement and license agreement due to Coherus's pricing agreement with Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. Mark Cuban appeared on the Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway on August 21. On that date, Cuban called James Talarico honest and said he would "do the right thing instead of the politically expedient thing." James Talarico released his second Spanish-language campaign ad on Tuesday, August 25. James Talarico is running against Texas Attorney General Paxton in the 2026 U.S. Senate election.

What's New

The ad notes James Talarico passed more than 60 bipartisan bills in the Texas House.

James Talarico resurfaced video of Paxton pocketing an expensive pen at a courthouse security checkpoint. The ad notes James Talarico's record of passing legislation to cap the price of insulin. Paxton was connected to Unity Resources but was not a defendant in the fraud case. The Unity Resources fraud case was settled.

How Sources Differ

Sources differ on the legislative record of James Talarico. One source notes that James Talarico passed more than 60 bipartisan bills in the Texas House. Other sources state that James Talarico is a member of the Texas House of Representatives.