Speaking as someone intimately familiar with healthcare pricing working really close to the industry specifically in pricing tracking - I can say yes - you aren

Speaking as someone intimately familiar with healthcare pricing working really close to the industry specifically in pricing tracking - I can say yes - you aren't incorrect about the fact that healthcare costs going up over time (and the sibling comment about unhealthy lifestyles also isn't incorrect) but the US does indeed have completely arbitrary pricing. As a personal anecdote when I lived in the US there were three months in a row where I paid 10/pill, 3/pill and 1/pill (I also had earlier paid 0/pill when I qualified for VT medicaid) for the same medication[1] as I was 1) initially uninsured 2) covered by the "cigna preferred rate" but otherwise had no drug coverage 3) had regular drug coverage. As a bonus a few months after that run a generic for my medication came out and I paid .10/pill for the brand name because the generic existed but they didn't have it in stock. Please explain how that makes any sense at all. 1. Concerta - the 54mg version now apparently retails for $545 per 30 here's a weird website talking about it (I now live in Canada and while there isn't Pharmacare in my province the drug is free with some cheap insurance) https://www.singlecare.com/blog/concerta-without-insurance/ https://www.singlecare.com/blog/concerta-without-insurance/