Thought of another potential force here [speculative, so please pros out there correct me]: A lot of the medical system payments come from the government, and

Thought of another potential force here [speculative, so please pros out there correct me]: A lot of the medical system payments come from the government, and I think this may be the force that sets a lot of the prices, more than, say, private companies negotiating, due to both the aggregate $$$ value and fewer negotiating parties in the gov't group. Thus the high prices might result from poor negotiating incentives on the Gov't side: 1) gov't is bad at it 2) they don't have the proper incentives to control their costs 3) capture by private companies (lobbyists for providers etc.) 4) I think their may be some areas where the Fed Gov't is not allowed to negotiate by law. (drug prices?)