>What the OP was trying to point out was that free market economics can break down in certain situations, and health care is a prime example. And my point was

>What the OP was trying to point out was that free market economics can break down in certain situations, and health care is a prime example. And my point was that such situations account for a very small percentage of situations in health care. Most situations and most medical care expenditures aren't of the type claimed by OP. In other words, it's really not a prime example and many of the highest costs are things that people could decide on. For example, the UK will probably not offer treatments that cost more than about $50,000/quality-adjusted year. It would be possible to offer insurance in the US for substantially less if insurance companies could sell a policy that would stick to that, and many people would take probably buy them (many people choose not to even buy insurance currently).