[coldtea]

>If this is true (and I don't know that it is) then it sounds to me that the free market is not working in this area in the USA.

There is no "free market". That's a 19th century superstition. For example, if something as basic as the price you pay for oil is determined by the wars your country fights then there's no free market. If your government prints inflated money at will. No free market. If the banking sector gets a 1 trillion dollar bailout. No free market. If a company or a lobby can buy several senators. No free market. If there is copyright and intellectual property rights. No free market. If your country can force others via military and diplomatic might to enforce favorable trade agreements. No free market. Heck, even if recreational drugs are illegal: no free market.

And even if it was, it wouldn't be working in this area. When you're dying you don't negotiate prices.