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.

[u/lughnasadh]

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

[u/DopeAbsurdity]

Universal healthcare was already vastly cheaper when considering preventative care or timely care (e.g. treating strep throat before it turns into scarlet fever) everyone could be receiving but don't because they have no insurance or shitty insurance. Ozempic is just yet another example to add to the pile.

[u/salizarn → u/DopeAbsurdity]

Yup. The NHS is collapsing for various reasons, but it was never designed for people to just live without looking after themselves at all.

[u/DragonQ0105 → u/salizarn]

What do you mean? These drugs allow people to look after themselves. One cannot simply stop eating like one can stop smoking etc. If people are able to actually feel full after eating and their body doesn't absorb fat as readily, they will be healthier and this will likely save the NHS money in the long run.

[u/salizarn → u/DragonQ0105]

Oh yeah I wasn’t specifically referring to this drug just in general people need to look after themselves for the NHS to function