Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) said his Christian faith inspired him to team up with billionaire Mark Cuban and push to “break up these big healthcare monopolies” during a live podcast interview on Saturday hosted by Fox News anchor Jessica Tarlov.
The liberal candidate and the former Dallas Mavericks owner took turns dishing on their new plan to upend Big Pharma, which the pair unveiled two days earlier.
Talarico said their agenda boils down to three things: ripping apart big healthcare companies “driving up” prices, allowing people to “shop around for the cheapest medications and… count that expense against their deductions,” and ensuring “doctors, not insurance companies” decide what medications people take.
One example of the corporations he and Cuban are targeting? CVS. Talarico slammed the company for “profiting off our pain,” as he put it.
“It it is insane that one company can literally control, the hospital where you pay to get care, the pharmacy where you pay for your medications, and the insurance company that decides how much you pay,” Talarico vented. “It’s a racket.”
After Cuban talked a bit, Talarico told the crowd his love for Jesus Christ is what spurred him to go after the healthcare industry.
He said:
If you go back and read the New Testament — even if you’re not a Christian, even if you’re not religious — go back and see what Jesus spends most of his time doing. It’s not preaching, it’s not teaching, it’s healing. It’s healing. And that is what we’re called to do, whether you’re religious or not, is ensure that our neighbors have the care that they need. And that is going to be the end result of this plan.
