Prices for ventilators are rising dramatically as states in need of these life-saving medical devices bid up the prices, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his daily news conference on Saturday. We are literally bidding up the prices ourselves," he said, noting that ventilator prices have gone from $25,000 to $40,000. With no coordinating committee, all 50 states, plus the federal government, are trying to acquire ventilators to treat critically ill coronavirus patients, he said. With supply of ventilators limited, the bidding is pushing up prices drastically. "We are all shopping the same distributors, the same groups, Cuomo said. "It's not even legally price- Dragerand Philips currently make ventilators, as do overseas competitors including in China, while efforts like the venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems are working to produce more ventilators to fill the need. Today In: Manufacturing a new startup called Breath Direct has designed a new slimmed-down ventilator that could be mass-produced and priced at$10,000, pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration. However, that ventilator will not be available to fill the need until May at the earliest. In the news conference, Cuomo suggested that either the federal government set up a nationwide purchasing agent that could distribute ventilators based on states' needs or that states come together to set up a voluntary buying consortium. Either could help stop governors who are trying to protect their residents from working at cross purposes. "You can see prices going up literally during the course of the day," Cuomo said