If the economy can't support peoples' lives, what's the point of having an economy in the first place? Is it just so a very few people can accumulate most of the available wealth and leave everyone else unable to access vital goods and services?
That said, let the billionaires spend their money on such cures if they wish (and they do). If we talk about what is the role of government in spending money to save lives, expensive pharma isnt one of them.
Now, we're in a situation similar to this, although much much less extreme. But the point is, trade-offs exist. And this is one of them.
Ask yourself who established the rules for our economy and who stands to benefit from them. If you ask them, things are working just as they are meant to.
Our country owes its roots to a wealthy, merchant class uprising. The system they setup benefited people like themselves.