> Also, it's worth noting that the "retail" price is a way that health care providers rip off the government by claiming a loss on their books after they are re

> Also, it's worth noting that the "retail" price is a way that health care providers rip off the government by claiming a loss on their books after they are reimbursed by medicaid You've got it backwards - Medicare (and Medicaid, to a lesser extent) are the ones who rip off providers, by reimbursing less than COGS[0]. The "retail" price is actually a way that providers make up for these losses by passing on the costs to private insurers (who then pay for those increased costs by accounting for them as claims, improving their MLR, and allowing them to raise premiums for it). [0] Medicare's own financial statements attest to this; you don't have to take providers' words for it.