The Donald's gone soft on drugs. I expected him to announce the

[Burney]

That's not what we have. Our medical system is long, long past the free market when a consumer can get 90 opioid pills for a $5 co-pay. It's a Gordian knot of insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers and government. If a consumer had to pay for the true cost of a pill out of his own pocket he might say, "Maybe I'll just buy two."

Actually, I am a huge advocate of private, free market medicine.

I take your point, but you have to bear in mind that, by the standards of most developed nations, the US medical market is a free-for-all in which prescription medicines are advertised on TV (this doesn't happen in other countries), in which all that matters is the level of insurance possessed by the patient, in which the patient is a customer to be pleased first and foremost and in which doctors are actively lobbied (and paid) by pharmaceutical company reps to push their pills.

God knows I'm not trying to advocate for our rather Stalinist model of healthcare, I'm just trying to give you an idea of how weird your system looks from outside and suggesting how it may have contributed to the problem you describe.

[Chief Arrowhead]

I take your point, but you have to bear in mind that, by the standards of most developed nations, the US medical market is a free-for-all in which prescription medicines are advertised on TV (this doesn't happen in other countries), in which all that matters is the level of insurance possessed by the patient, in which the patient is a customer to be pleased first and foremost and in which doctors are actively lobbied (and paid) by pharmaceutical company reps to push their pills.

God knows I'm not trying to advocate for our rather Stalinist model of healthcare, I'm just trying to give you an idea of how weird your system looks from outside and suggesting how it has contributed to the problem you describe.

It's a bloody mess and there is no doubt that it's present set up is a major factor, much like our current 3 centre halve back line is contributing to our horrific goals allowed rate.

We did have one free market medical system in one specific area -- laser eye surgery. When that came about in the 90's neither the insurance companies nor the government would agree to pay for it. What you saw was a rapid increase in quality, productivity and a subsequent decline in price. What began as a rather speculative $15,000 operation became in a decade a mundane $500 an eyeball procedure in sort of a factory line approach with incredible technological advancement and extremely low 'adverse outcomes".