How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater
Many in this thread are claiming that price fixing wouldn't occur in a "truly free" market. This is misty-eyed naivety.<p>In a completely deregulated free market, it is even more in the hospitals' interest to form a price-fixing cartel. Any new player in the market trying to set reasonable market prices could be excluded through market pressure tactics (eg, tell distributors don't sell to them or our cartel will no longer use you).<p>It seems to me that the parlous state of the US healthcare system is in fact a perfect demonstration of the dangers of a completely free market, and claims that "oh no it's not actually free enough" are merely handwaving.