Healthcare is an inelastic demand service. Also a free market requires an informed buyer. Lack of price transparency coupled with inelastic demand makes it high

Healthcare is an inelastic demand service. Also a free market requires an informed buyer. Lack of price transparency coupled with inelastic demand makes it highly resistant to traditional market forces. You've got other forces working on it like high barrier to entry to be a healthcare service provider, high upfront costs for equipment, very heavy (expensive) regulation, higher likelihood of legal costs, etc. It's like food. If you're starving, you'll do or pay whatever you have to to get nutrients.