Because now 's the time to haggle

On the same day the United States became the country with the most confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the world, it was reported that the Trump administration has pulled back from a deal to build life-saving ventilators because it belatedly decided it’s too expensive. The New York Times reports the White House was this week set to reveal a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems that would allow for the production of as many as 80,000 urgently needed ventilators. But the announcement has been postponed indefinitely after the Federal Emergency Management Agency reportedly decided it needed more time to think about whether the $1 billion price tag was too high.

A ventilator, depending on functions, costs between $5-50k. Free cost to the federal gov't? About 12k. Well worth the delay and cost of a few lives.