We need to get back to the basic $20 doctors visit. It is now $120. $100 for crap like government regulatory compliance and insurance company processes.
Pharma costs are also high because of the same.
Take a medication such as Amoxicillin. Pharmacy retail cost is about $40. Most people pay $4 to $12, with insurance covering the rest. Wholesale cost is only $4.
Take new drug costs. Over $1 billion to perform FDA and other mandatory testing and proofs. $1 billion. That is insane! Best guess is $40 million at most, and that would drive costs to reasonable out of pocket costs instead of the thousands per month some drugs now cost.
One anti-cancer drug is $11,000/month in the US...but only $3,500 in India...and only $400 wholesale.