It's currently unlike any other market... in fact we wouldn't be in this mess at all if it weren't for originaly government maniplation of free market mechanisms.

During mandatory wage freezes (instituted by the government) the free market had to come up with a way to attract and retain top talent in the labor market. They couldn't pay them more, but they could offer them "benefits" which included health insurance.

Thus began the pivotal de-linkage of the customer paying for services rendered. A third party bore the costs and therefore the supplier of these costs had no reason to be price competitive. When a patient can go up to the "health care buffett" and order the filet without having to actually PAY for it, its no wonder that nobody was eating the hamburger.

Thus the healthcare industry lost every incentive to contain costs, keep research at a sane level (Seriously, I charge clients $450/hr to work on their clinical trials) and the patient doesn't care because for the most part, they're not paying for it.

But it doesn't have to be like this. Going to the hospital should be like going to Jiffy Lube. Your kidneys need an oil change (dialysis)? That will be $75. Clearly displayed on a menu board above the nurses' station (and on the hospital's website)

There's a great piece at reason.com about the possibilities of a free market type health care system where you can walk into an office and prices are clearly displayed on a menu board. You know exactly what you're getting and what its going to cost - and since the particular example they showed didn't bother with the administrative overhead of insurance or medicare, the costs were 1/5th that of the hospitals.