Healthcare and pharmaceuticals are not even in the ball park of a normal free market.<p>1.  Monopolies - We give monopolies to pharmaceutical companies to incentivize  R&amp;D.<p>2.  Principal-Agent problem - Doctors guide, and make decisions about care for consumers.  But However consumers of health care have different incentives than doctors.<p>3.  Insurance - Most individuals are relatively shielded from the costs of their healthcare.<p>4.  Public Good - Many people want to live in a society where people do not die from easily treatable conditions.<p>So yes a free markets is always the optimal solution given a certain set of assumptions.  Unfortunately very few of these assumptions are true in healthcare.