One part of the problem of medical costs is the expense of medical technology. Markets are limited so prices can't be compared to consumer technology, but still I think there is a usuriously high profit margin in a lot of cases.

As an example, yesterday I did an incoming inspection on a gamma detector, a small box with a probe that allows the detection of concentrations of radioisotopes that have perviously been injected into a patient. They differentially concentrate in specific tumour tissues.

The $40,000 cost of the whole thing was hard enough to take, but $13,000 of that was for the probe, simply a metal rod about 20 cm long and 1.5 cm diameter, with a head that contains a gamma radiation pickup. A collimator that consisted of a thick metal washer bonded to a plastic housing for $580 and a simple nylon case for $154 was scary, too.

No sure what can be done about it without Govt intervention, but it seems to me an example of the free market taking advantage.