Because the price system, or any other economic environment, is carved out of nature. Like, totally not artificial. — hairy belly

American price systems for healthcare costs are set by Medicare.

Are they? Who's Medicare and by whom are they set in a non artificial environment?

You can google Medicare.

Medicare pays set prices by diagnosis. So they pay a certain amount for a pneumonia diagnosis no matter how much the healthcare provider spends. There's a set payout for attack by killer whale (believe it or don't).

All private insurance companies set their payouts by Medicare's rates.

I'm a little amazed that you believe this. It isn't true. What I'd like you to do is consider what would happen if it was true. — frank

Many would be in medical related debt. Others would seek insufficient or no medical help for their health issues. Hopefully most Americans aren't facing such issues?

You can google Medicare. — frank

Wiki says:

"Medicare is a national health insurance program in the United States, begun in 1966 under the Social Security Administration (SSA) and now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older, younger people with some disability status as determined by the Social Security Administration, as well as people with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).

In 2018, Medicare provided health insurance for over 59.9 million individuals—more than 52 million people aged 65 and older and about 8 million younger people.[1] On average, Medicare covers about half of healthcare expenses of those enrolled.[citation needed] Medicare is funded by a combination of a payroll tax, beneficiary premiums and surtaxes from beneficiaries, co-pays and deductibles, and general U.S. Treasury revenue."

I'd ask the same thing to the one who wrote this.

Medicare pays set prices by diagnosis. So they pay a certain amount for a pneumonia diagnosis no matter how much the healthcare provider spends. There's a set payout for attack by killer whale (believe it or don't).

All private insurance companies set their payouts by Medicare's rates. — frank

If this is an answer to the question "by whom are they set in a non artificial environment", I do not get the answer.

If this is an answer to the question "by whom are they set in a non artificial environment", I do not get the answer. — hairy belly

The American healthcare system is heavily regulated, directly for quality by CMS, and indirectly for cost by Medicare.

It's an artificial system. What doesn't happen in this regulated system is research for new drugs. That research is funded purely by speculation that a profit can be made to pay for the research.

So looking beyond cases of gouging (as is happening with insulin right now), how would price caps on drugs effect research?

What I got from the above is artificial system = regulated system. Sticking to the question, who sets the prices in a non-artificial or an unregulated system?

who sets the prices in a non-artificial or an unregulated system? — hairy belly

Nature.

wow.