A theory that isn’t validated in practice isn’t much of a theory. I’ve lived in several countries with price controls (at least on reimbursements, you’re free to get price gouged at some doctor but not many people will follow) and things are fine.
If anything I ended up having issues at the few parts that _arent_ price controlled (eyecare in France is a pain, though I think mostly because supply of optometrists are limited)
You can read Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls by Robert Schuettinger and Eamon Butler, first published in 1979. The case against price controls is not merely an academic exercise, restricted to economics textbooks. There is a four-thousand-year historical record of economic catastrophe after catastrophe caused by price controls.
In the case of price controls for medical services and products, there are a bazillion cases of it working. Your theory goes up against the universe's facts on this specific case.
I'm not arguing for price controls on everything in general. I'm pointing out that _in this context_ price controls are a proven strategy and work and mean that people don't _die due to not affording their insulin_.
The best healthcare system in the world is private and it's made on Singapur. Every single citizen can afford it, since it starts from 16$/mo. I want to hear one case of those 'bazillion' of price-controlled system.
Price control is not a theory. There are several books, papers (Hayek, Mises, Friedman), topics that address this topic. If it is so good, why isn't implemented? It's the same argument than communism: if it is so good, why we don't implement it? Because it doesn't work. It never worked.
Price control generates scarcity. Because bureaus can't have all the information about the market, it's impossible. The moment a bureau determinate a price you're generating an impact on the different areas without having the possibility to address it. The gov. is not the market, the gov can't be an omnipotent entity that knows everything, that's why they screw everything.
It's more or less implemented for medical care in most other first-world countries and it seems to work better than ours* in all of them.
I lived in Canada for three years, and growing up in a fairly conservative area in the US, I was prepared for the worst - six-month wait times for life-saving procedures, etc. What I saw was more like Star Trek - people who needed medical care went to a clinic or hospital and got it, and they didn't have to worry about being bankrupted in the process.
After I moved back to the US, I got to see what it was like for most people - delaying or never getting critical procedures done, people with teeth rotting in their heads because they can't afford to go to the dentist, almost everyone 1 unexpected medical bill away from permanent financial ruin. Our system is objectively bad, and we deserve to feel bad for sticking with it.
You can cite all the market theory you want, but the US is a perfect empirical example of why those theories are wrong.
* Except for the tiny minority of the ultra-wealthy who can afford to pay any price for health care.
If anything I ended up having issues at the few parts that _arent_ price controlled (eyecare in France is a pain, though I think mostly because supply of optometrists are limited)