[sbarzowski]

You could say the same about bakeries ("seeking to maximize their profits on other people's basic needs").

IMO the problem is more about (very) imperfect competition. Also medicine is very special in many ways (desperate buyers, doctors making decisions for them, moral and emotional weight, etc.), so it's hard to have incentives aligned.

[freeone3000]

The entire food pipeline is heavily subsidized by the government, from advantageous loans to crop price insurance to direct cash subsidies to a sales tax exemption, to SNAP to people who can't afford food. I agree wholeheartedly with the bakery comment, that they try to maximize profits, but, bread is less than a dollar a loaf and significant expense and effort is taken to ensure everyone is fed. There seems to be no will to do the same for healthcare.