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Somewhere along the way a firmware bug was discovered in the American psyche that judges whether or not something is “capitalism” by whether or not there are “c

Somewhere along the way a firmware bug was discovered in the American psyche that judges whether or not something is “capitalism” by whether or not there are “companies” involved, but is completely insensitive to whether or not “competition” is involved: this is how you get a Vox piece that includes “private industry” and “legally allowed to negotiate prices” in the same paragraph but lacks “fucking ridiculous”. The pharmaceutical companies have patents on the drugs and so they rent seek. The hospitals have geographic locations and generally don’t get built across the street from each other. The pharmacies are owned by the same parent companies as the insurers. But somehow you can take this mess of central committee grift and pay some CEO 8 figures a year and now comrade, now we are doing the capitalism. We are rocking and rolling.

sneak 2y ago
It’s also illegal to build new hospitals without permission, even if you have the demand and ability to build one across the street from the existing one. There are MANY firms who would love to open discount clinics across the street from a bunch of existing medical centers and out-compete them on price and service and eat their lunch; anyone who has used the american medical system knows what a low bar that is to clear. The problem is that in most cases the supply of doctors is capped by law and the ability to open new hospitals and clinics is restricted, so prices remain astronomical and service remains terrible, just like your other public utilities. Somehow this government-mandated lack of competition is blamed on “free market capitalism”.