Patents area form of regulation and mostly increase costs (licensing, litigation, inability to compete); sometimes they encourage innovation too. Patent law is used very effectively to limit competition.
Similarly with copyright. Terms are now over a century.
There are many government imposed monopolies in healthcare. The regulatory costs of putting a drug on the market are enormous. Sometimes this stops a bad drug getting onto the market; it always adds delays and costs and often prevents drugs reaching the market altogether.
Look at what happened with 23andme, who are prevented from giving the public the results of a scan of their gene (the genes linked in studies to illnesses). They have been told to apply for approval for each test of each gene on an individual basis.
In my country melatonin is a prescription drug. The cost from pharmacies is about 10X higher than the OTC cost in the USA.
In the USA there are severe restrictions on health insurance providers. Cross state competition is largely thwarted. The kinds of insurance that can be offered are severely limited.
Any relationship between the US health care system and a free market is entirely accidental.
Patents area form of regulation and mostly increase costs (licensing, litigation, inability to compete); sometimes they encourage innovation too. Patent law is used very effectively to limit competition.
Similarly with copyright. Terms are now over a century.
There are many government imposed monopolies in healthcare. The regulatory costs of putting a drug on the market are enormous. Sometimes this stops a bad drug getting onto the market; it always adds delays and costs and often prevents drugs reaching the market altogether.
Look at what happened with 23andme, who are prevented from giving the public the results of a scan of their gene (the genes linked in studies to illnesses). They have been told to apply for approval for each test of each gene on an individual basis.
In my country melatonin is a prescription drug. The cost from pharmacies is about 10X higher than the OTC cost in the USA.
In the USA there are severe restrictions on health insurance providers. Cross state competition is largely thwarted. The kinds of insurance that can be offered are severely limited.
Any relationship between the US health care system and a free market is entirely accidental.