> Furthermore when the alternative is death or debilitation, the price a "consumer" is willing to pay is effectively everything they possess and can borrow.
This is also true with food. What keeps the price down is competition, not price controls.
This is also true with food. What keeps the price down is competition, not price controls.
But such true emergency response seems like actually a very minor part of all medical care. It would be better for people to have private emergency arrangements through their insurance - but, of course, this is not always viable (if you are bleeding out in a car accident, there is no time to figure out which hospital you have a deal with), so that is one area where the state should probably be involved.