I have two active kids and am reasonably active myself. We have probably received medical treatment a dozen times in the last year, a combination of walk-in clinics, personal physicians and emergency room visits, depending on the circumstances. During these visits, the staff have used equipment, given procedures and prescribed medication and have rarely, if ever, inquired about my thoughts on treatment. When my son j…
The article focuses on what can hardly be considered a complicated good: salt water. Medical grade saline is highly regulated, and must be one of the most commodity products that exist in the country today. (The article takes pains to establish this.) It takes minimal effort to understand what it is or to compare prices. And yet, as the article says, there is no functioning market for it. For something like "set this…
The nurse says $500.
Option 1) You say "no way, I can't pay that." The nurse shrugs and says "well, that's what it costs for IV solution here."
Option 2) You say "holy hell that seem expensive for a bag of salt water." The nurse shrugs and says "well, that's what it costs for IV solution here."
Option 3) You say "I'm really not comfortable paying that. What other treatment can I get?" The nurse shrugs and says "sir, this is the standard protocol for treating acute food poisoning. We put a saline solution into your arm via IV to replace your fluids. There is no alternate treatment. We're really busy in the ER, so I need to put this needle in your arm or get to another patient."
Now let's add a functioning market as you allude to:
Option 3, redux) You say "I'm really not comfortable paying that. What other treatment can I get?" The nurse says "well, we also have this other saline solution for a buck." You, reasonably, say "wait, what? Why is this other one 500 times cheaper than the first one?" The nurse shrugs and says "no idea, I don't make them. They both seem fine to me though." You, still being reasonable, say "then why is one so much more expensive than the other? Will the cheaper one do just as good a job as the expensive one?" The nurse shrugs her shoulders and says "look, I can't promise anything one way or the other. We default to the more expensive one but if you want the cheaper one, that's your choice. It's probably fine. Just sign this form that you're opting for the cheaper solution."
What does a rational person with zero context choose?