(02-05-2019, 01:04 PM)wrong_box Wrote: One of the biggest problems of the cost of health care is big pharma. Big pharma charges ridiculous prices on many drugs. As mentioned earlier, my wife has two kinds of arthritis and takes a shot once a week. Each shot costs $1k but it only costs a few bucks to make it. They charge that much because they can. I'm all for businesses to make as much as they can, but there comes a point when making a profit becomes fleecing and price gouging . I'm not big on government  putting their fat fingers in business, but big pharma has proved they can't police themselves, and charge ungodly prices to consumers out of pure greed, and therefore, need to be regulated

Your wife's experience serves a quick lesson on how the market for healthcare and prescription drugs works.
Arthritis can cause permanent damage to the joints and leave the affected person disabled and in need of reconstructive surgery.
In a free market, the buyer feels free to walk away from one supplier, and consider other suppliers, or consider going without.
But in this market, your wife will do none of those things unless her doctor advises her to do so.
Ergo, it is not a free market.
Even if you eliminated all of the regulations, it still would not be a free market.

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