I'm going to jump in here and offer up an Ayn Rand because you brought her name up.

Ask anyone who has a dog, preferably a big dog, what it costs for a vet visit.

Better yet, talk to someone who has had a sick dog. Something terminal, or possibly terminal. Costs are wayyy lower. Same x-ray, same imaging, many similar medicines. I've talked with vets, human doctors, and doctors who own dogs. They all come to the same conclusion:

Only ONE key difference - there is no insurance or government regulation involved (obvously stuff like taxes, basic health codes, licensing, but I think you know what I mean).

I'm more than happy to agree with you if you could show me a plausible explanation for this enormous disparity in costs.