Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us - how PROFITS increase costs in American "health" "care"

[Selatius]

7. Medical parts suppliers are some of the worst. They're essentially a cartel in everything but name.

A catheter could cost a hundred bucks, simply because there is really only one or two manufacturers of said product, and they are thus free to mark up prices sky high.

There has been almost no enforcement of anti-trust laws here. Many hospitals in a particular state are typically owned and operated by the same conglomerate. There is no competition on pricing. Of course, if you got shot in the stomach, your first question isn't going to be which hospital is the cheapest to attend; it's where is the nearest hospital.

Nobody in living memory has come out full-bore in favor of serious trust busting. We need another Square Deal and another New Deal in all markets.

Forcing people into this system isn't going to solve the problem of prohibitively expensive health care, even if everybody was insured by private health insurance companies.