The problem in the US is the individuals don’t pay for regular medical care - your insurance does. And that insurance is usually funded by employers. So doctor

The problem in the US is the individuals don’t pay for regular medical care - your insurance does. And that insurance is usually funded by employers. So doctors and hospitals have every incentive to squeeze the insurance companies as much as possible (which pass on those costs to employers). We’d be in a completely different situation if people paid for regular medical care out of pocket and paid for their catastrophic insurance by themselves. There’d be competition between health care providers to offer affordable care directly to individuals, just like other normal markets.