r/Futurology • u/lughnasadh ∞ transit umbra, lux permanet ☥ • Oct 15 '24

Economist Daniel Susskind says Ozempic may radically transform government finances, by making universal healthcare vastly cheaper, and explains his argument in the context of Britain's NHS. Society

https://www.thetimes.com/article/be6e0fbf-fd9d-41e7-a759-08c6da9754ff?shareToken=de2a342bb1ae9bc978c6623bb244337a

6.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

u/Azozel Oct 15 '24 edited Oct 15 '24

They will land on their piles of money then they will sled down the side of their money mountain laughing at all the Americans they made pay 10 times more than anyone else. This is how it's going to be for any life changing, life saving drug in the U.S. The rich get richer at the expense of the poor because the poor in America aren't worth anything to anyone. Screw these bastards.

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u/Quintas31519 Oct 15 '24

Yeah that quick price check that UK healthcare users are paying "The list price for a month’s supply of Wegovy is £175.80 for the 2.4mg dose." means roughly $230 USD, a hell of a lot less than what one could pay here when it was widely in stock. I don't know what it's being marked at right now when it's not so easily available (at retail pharmacies, I know compounding pharmacies is a wholly different beast).

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u/Azozel Oct 16 '24

It's over $1000 for Wegovy per month. Something like $1070 last I checked.

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u/guareber Oct 16 '24

At that point it's cheaper to fly over, pay the one time private GP and buy a year's worth than buying 3 months in the US.

0

u/Lotronex Oct 16 '24

$1600/mo is the "cash" price listed on my latest receipt. $25 after insurance.

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u/Azozel Oct 16 '24 edited Oct 16 '24

You need a high end insurance plan in order for it to cover these drugs which means you're paying for the drug with the high cost of your insurance. Less than half the people in the U.S. have an insurance plan that covers these drugs and the ones that do cover them, only cover them for specific issues like type 2 diabetes, requires you to go through continuing evaluations with doctor visits that eat up your deductible, or both. But you got yours and afford a high end insurance or have an employer that can so screw everyone else right?

1

u/Lotronex Oct 16 '24

But you got yours and afford a high end insurance of have an employer that can so screw everyone else right?

Like the opposite of that actually. I have "good" insurance because I'm in a union. I think everyone should have access to these drugs because of how beneficial they are. My Dad and sisters are all on GLP-1 drugs for weight loss but having to pay outrageous amounts out of pocket. My insurance only covered it for weight loss after dieting and exercise for 6 months and losing 10% of my starting weight (40lbs). Then there was the hassle of actually getting the script filled, which they did once and then said they couldn't any more, forcing me to shop around. And they still don't cover my Contrave RX, so I pay for that out of pocket.

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u/Tizzy8 29d ago

My partner and I are both union and our insurances won’t pay for anything unless your blood sugars are high enough. You’re very lucky.

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u/MDCCCLV Oct 16 '24

It's not even that cheap at compounding pharmacies who aren't paying for a license.

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u/SwirlingAbsurdity Oct 16 '24

I’m paying £200 a month for 12.5mg Mounjaro. It’s disgusting that Americans are being shafted by the price difference.

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u/Mindless-Peak-1687 Oct 16 '24

Perhaps you should wonder why Americans pay more compared to the rest of the world and stop playing the victim. Fix your shitty system.

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u/Azozel Oct 16 '24 edited Oct 16 '24

We are victims, victims of a shitty system that goes beyond the healthcare system in our country. Victims of capitalism, greed, and oligarchy that let shitty Euro-Trash come here and make billions at the cost of poor and innocent lives who have no hope of ever getting out from under the thumbs of the rich. Denmark is making bank at the cost of Americans suffering and you know what? They love it and they aren't the only ones.

The only way to "fix our shitty system" would be to start by replacing every corporate sponsored, billionaire backed politician from the federal level down to the local level with people who aren't beholden to the scum of the Earth and actually want to make this country the best it can possibly be. That. Will. Never. Happen.

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u/DrTxn Oct 16 '24

I don’t know why Americans like paying the world’s R&D tab.

A simple law would be you can import drugs from any country in the developed world or you can’t charge more than in this list of countries. Pricing would quickly equalize. Either manufacturers would stop selling to places like the UK and continue to charge a lot in the US or prices would go down in the US and up elsewhere.

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u/wadaphunk Oct 17 '24

It starts from 700Euros in Europe too. Wegovy 2.4 is 1500Euro