I probably just don't fully understand the situation, however this seems bad. I'm usually for capitalism and the concept of supply and demand, but not in this case.
What's my marrow worth to me? Probably not much; a bit of time and discomfort but overall not a huge deal. However, for the buyer, it's the matter of life or death. Seems like it would be easy to extort someone who needs it.
This is one of the rare cases where I hope the market is very heavily regulated -- say, "Bone marrow is worth $1k. It's illegal to ask for more."
Having price ceilings would cause shortages in supply which would possibly lead to more deaths than cost increases. By meddling in the marketplace you are bound to create a lot of unintended consequences that will be detrimental to patients.
Death is not the only measure of quality of life. ER docs are not empowered to negotiate fees with their patients in the moments before service either.
Comments
I probably just don't fully understand the situation, however this seems bad. I'm usually for capitalism and the concept of supply and demand, but not in this case.
What's my marrow worth to me? Probably not much; a bit of time and discomfort but overall not a huge deal. However, for the buyer, it's the matter of life or death. Seems like it would be easy to extort someone who needs it.
This is one of the rare cases where I hope the market is very heavily regulated -- say, "Bone marrow is worth $1k. It's illegal to ask for more."
Having price ceilings would cause shortages in supply which would possibly lead to more deaths than cost increases. By meddling in the marketplace you are bound to create a lot of unintended consequences that will be detrimental to patients.
Death is not the only measure of quality of life. ER docs are not empowered to negotiate fees with their patients in the moments before service either.
Right now the problem is supply. The problem is not people being unable to pay $x more for the treatment.