[madamelic]

>Hard to grasp how a huge power like the US can't get itself around decently-priced healthcare.

To be honest, it's not that hard to figure out.

The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations.

Hence why we elected a CEO, albeit a massive failure of one, but a CEO regardless.

[sol_remmy2]

> The US gov't largely believes itself is ineffective and needs to be privatized and ran like a business. Private businesses are held up as beacons of innovation and efficiency without the "red tape" the gov't has due to purposefully created checks, balances and regulations.

The medical system is really not private. It is a hybrid of a state-controlled system and a capitalistic system. Here are some ways of how the system is state-controlled:

1. Hospitals cannot be freely constructed. One must apply for a "certificate of need" to gain permission from the government to build a hospital. This is not a free market.

2. Credentialism is BAD in our medical system. There is only one group of people approved by the government to do prescribe most medications and perform most surgeries - doctors. This is not a free market and greatly increase costs. Doctors earn a median of 300k/year and are the highest paid profession in every state. This is not a free market.

3. Hospitals are legally forced to treat anyone who shows up at their door - even if they can't afford the treatment. This is not a free market.

4. Medicare/Medicaid are forced to nearly buy any drug, regardless of cost, if it could save a live. Even if a drug is 500k/year, the system is forced to buy it. This is not a free market and greatly increases costs.

[vonmoltke]

> 4. Medicare/Medicaid are forced to nearly buy any drug, regardless of cost, if it could save a live. Even if a drug is 500k/year, the system is forced to buy it. This is not a free market and greatly increases costs.

No, they aren't. Medicare Part D plans are not required to cover any particular drugs, though what they choose to cover is subject to approval by CMS.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Part_D#Plan_formulari...

[tsimionescu]

Maybe, but those (perhaps except the first one) are absolute requirements for a functioning system.

If a market based solution can't work with these restrictions, then the obvious conclusion is that you have to give up on market-based healthcare, not that you have to allow anyone to prescribe medicine, or have hospitals which won't treat dying people because they can't pay.