Comment by throw10920

> If a company has an opportunity to make money, they will. Any better than 'good enough' isn't rational and the people running that company should be fired.

...where "good enough" is relative to a particular level of quality and price point, of course. Otherwise there wouldn't be different markets for rich and poor people. And this mechanic helps avoid a "collapse into mediocrity" that you'd otherwise get if all goods and services were offered at a single price point.

The real problem is what you identified at the end, that healthcare isn't anything like a free market. There's no buyer mobility, no transparency as to the level of the service you're getting - heck, you don't even know how much you're going to pay in advance, unlike almost every other industry.