That's silly. How do you propose to "evaluate what is better, healthier, more rational"? I suppose some panel of experts could give you their best approximation, but it will always be sub-optimal. Markets exist in order to answer these questions, and they answer them by delegating the decision to every person involved in the decision, not by hoping a designated person can make a guess that's close enough.
It appears that the problem in this case is that there is a single producer who is able to engage in monopolistic pricing, which is certainly not something a market-oriented person would condone.
And the market for healthcare is not a free market. Not anything resembling a free market.
> Markets exist in order to answer these questions,
Well in this case it answered that the price should be $600. This means people, kids, astamatics are going to die at some point in higher numbers because of that.
I say the market is drunk or evil and should not be allowed to make medical decisions.
But because it has a religious following, we don't want to make it angry so we can't say "we mandate EpiPen cost to be $25". Instead we dance around it and say "oh we'll create this health insurance thing, and then that will pay for it". But only if you work. Or ... if you don't you have to buy it anyway, or you have to pay a penalty. But unless you are old, then we kind a let you off the hook a bit and you sign up for this other thing. All of that is done in paper and in how it is presented to the public because we don't want to upset the free market gods.
Setting prices via administrative fiat doesn't eliminate problems. If the price is set to low, there will be shortages or no product at all. If the price is set to high, then the blame for the high price is shifted to the legislature rather than the supplier.
In any case, it is the government that is creating the conditions that allow the price to be set so high in this case. Blaming the 'market' for adjusting to the conditions created by government is confusing cause and effect.
"AHA! This flaw would prevent that from being a workable solution. Keep the status quo!"
As if (a) understanding that there is a problem necessarily means that one must understand the solution, or (b) as if we live in a vacuum and this hasn't been addressed by dozens of other nations.
It has been addressed. In a dozen different ways, with different pros and cons. I can't tell you if the British or German or Japanese method is better, but I can tell you that we're the only schmucks going bankrupt to avoid death by bee-sting.
It appears that the problem in this case is that there is a single producer who is able to engage in monopolistic pricing, which is certainly not something a market-oriented person would condone.
And the market for healthcare is not a free market. Not anything resembling a free market.