The current status quo in the US Healthcare system is a byproduct of the mechanisms of government. It's not some crazy accident of the market, rather it is the

The current status quo in the US Healthcare system is a byproduct of the mechanisms of government. It's not some crazy accident of the market, rather it is the inevitable result of a series of policies passed at state, local, and federal levels over the past half century. The fact that health insurance isn’t portable, and is rather tied to employment is a consequence of 1) the WW2 era wage ceilings imposed on private corporations, which resulted in employers competing for labor by providing health benefits, followed by 2) the ability for employers to deduct insurance premiums from payroll taxes (which costs the government $280 billion per year), and finally, 3) the Federal government imposed mandate on employers to provide health insurance. This is in contrast with other countries that employ private insurance, like the Netherlands and Switzerland, where insurance is tied to the individual, not the employer. The lack of price transparency logically follows from the fact that patients never really care how much their treatments cost, since employer sponsored insurance covers everything anyway. Large corporations are less price sensitive than individuals, which exacerbates the price inflation over decades. Certificate of need laws, where local hospitals get to decide if a new, competing hospital may open (imagine Uber being able to decide if Lyft may ply), and the residency system requiring 10+ years of schooling to practice has resulted in inevitable supply constraints, further driving up costs[1]. Medicare, which provides healthcare for free for the elderly, removed the most engaged buyers from the market, suffocating price discovery for medical goods and services. Not only that, the elderly tend to be the richest people in the country - those above the age of 55 account for 73% of wealth in America. Boomers are disproportionately rich, and yet they also enjoy some of the most generous welfare on top of that. The resulting kafkaesque Frankenstein of a system was created through decades of well-intentioned government regulation at all levels of the Government. Healthcare is one of the least free markets in the US. University education costs as much as it does because the Federal government guarantees any loan for any degree, regardless of the expected ability to pay upon graduation. This causes inevitable inflation in University sticker price, because they're going to be paid the money anyway regardless of a student's financial outcome. The guaranteed loan results in zero skin in the game for Universities. [1] https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/10/25/doctors-salaries-pay-disparities-000557/ https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/10/25/doctors-sal...