Yes, I should’ve been more precise in saying they are one payer in a system of many payers vying for lower prices from healthcare suppliers. But as I’ve stated

Yes, I should’ve been more precise in saying they are one payer in a system of many payers vying for lower prices from healthcare suppliers. But as I’ve stated multiple times and what you seem to be purposefully ignoring to defend your position, the overall costs of these services are determined not only by how they’re consumed by Medicare beneficiaries, but by overall functioning of the healthcare system and continuity of care throughout its beneficiaries’ lifetimes. You can very clearly understand that the price of any given procedure is not determined by how it is consumed and paid for by one segment of the market, but by all of its consumption and the interactions around it. A given surgery or hospital stay is is not something consumed exclusively by Medicare beneficiaries so they are not the sole determinants of its price.