One is there is a supply problem. There are lots of people who would like to be doctors, that are capable of being doctors, that won't become doctors because th

One is there is a supply problem. There are lots of people who would like to be doctors, that are capable of being doctors, that won't become doctors because there are only so many seats available at medical schools. So fixed supply of new grads every year. Next is there is no market pressure on prices, even though theoretically that's what should happen. People NEED medical care so there isn't much to haggle about. Insurance companies don't care about prices so much, they just raise their rates if prices go up and take a bigger cut. In countries with socialized medicine, the government is THE buyer and can negotiate prices for things. But here, a drug company just raises the prices by 10^3 percent and everyone just pays it.