Say it with me, guys

Healthcare can never be run by a free-market system because a satisfied customer will not come back for further services and optional prevention will never make you as rich as necessary intervention in a disaster. Never mind that people are not rational economic actors when they are sick, or that there is imperfect and imabalanced information driving the market. You don't even need that. All you need is:

Healthcare can never be run by a free-market system because a satisfied customer will not come back for further services. Efficiency, in this case, drives down profits. And if you wait long enough, the consumer's demand is perfectly inelastic and you can charge them whatever you want. Competition doesn't change shit about this, particularly since doctors are not substitutes. They're a hell of a lot more distinct than Coke and Pepsi, and people are pretty particular about those. Only one hospital is the nearest hospital and I can't tell whether I'm going to die in fifty years or tomorrow, or whether vitamins make a difference.

Healthcare can never be run by a free-market system.