
Ask HN: Why can't a startup sell saline to hospitals? - nailer
So saline is 98 USD a litre in the US. What are the barriers to entry in this market? Why isn&#x27;t someone else making purified saltwater and charging 49 USD a litre instead, halving the price and still getting an insane margin?<p>Pardon my naivety about the US hospital system, I&#x27;m not in the US. But for all the discussion around health care in the US, I haven&#x27;t seen anyone address the lack of competition here.
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pandasun
It's explained here: [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-
salines-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-
secret-costs.html)

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fulafel
I think that article leaves it still unanswered.

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akhatri_aus
Most likely you're missing its a transfer pricing technique (to move profits
to different entities). The actual cost of the saline from the initial
supplier isn't as high.

