[nkozyra]

You're essentially saying it's ok to price out large segments of the population for life-saving medication. This is life or death, not a new Audi versus a used Hyundai. There is an ethical consideration that your analogues ignore.

[JoeAltmaier]

At some point, the price of a thing is related to the resources a person can bear on a task. People are priced out of better lives all the time - cars, jobs, where they live, what they eat. Its the way society works. To make medicine a special case, with the govt providing infinitely deep pockets, is irrational. Inconsistent with how we run everything else anyway.

Yes I believe studying, working, getting ahead ought to give me and my family a better life. Else what's the point? Its not just a game with points; its survival. Its supposed to work that way. If money doesn't buy the most important things, then we need some new system of exchange that does buy important things.

[nkozyra]

> People are priced out of better lives all the time

But again, this is not what we're debating. It's why the "average car price" does not apply.

[JoeAltmaier]

Clearer: its not 'ok' that segments of the population are 'priced out'. Its just economics. Life is hard.

[nkozyra]

Look everybody knows it's economics that drives this. That's not the point. We have mechanisms in place that can isolate certain aspects of life and remove them from the capitalist machine.

On a grand scale it's socialized medicine but even on a smaller scale it's health insurance. And it's why hospitals don't kick out a dying person just because they're destitute. What we're talking about isn't "why does medicine X cost $Y?" Most people understand that.

And that's why it's unfair to compare life-saving medication to buying a luxury vehicle.

[JoeAltmaier]

And insurance isn't ever going to level the playing field completely. Some things are just too expensive. It was asked Why? I know its not a free market. And there's a difference between luxuries and life-saving procedures/medicines. But some things cost a lot, and some folks will be able to afford them and some not. And that's not a mistake or a problem with the system.