The infamous physicist, who has been nearly fully paralyzed for decades, suffers from a degenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. After diagnosis, life expectancy is a few years. About 10% live past ten years. So, how is it possible that Hawking has survived for decades, especially in a country that has a socialist rationed healthcare system that usually just manages terminally ill patients until they die. There is no point wasting money on them from the bureaucrats point of view. Indeed, Hawking was offered a nursing home in the 1980s, but his wife would not allow it. Unless he is an animatronic robot, or extremely lucky, he would have had to use capitalism to survive this long, which would be ironic, given his socialist predilections and defense of the horrid NHS.

It seems that a combination of factors helped him survive. Because he is an extremely intelligent and pioneering physicist (possibly helped by his brain being increasingly devoted to thought rather than movement), socialist bureaucrats can prioritize him. He is a value to British society worth whatever millions of pounds that would never be spent on a regular person. Socialism is really that elitist and inhumane. In addition to that, he has sought help in the market, making money and receiving donations for in and out patient care. Incidentally, an American charity has provided much of this support. He has 24 hour nursing support and requires a ventilator. He is also able to live at home, which is substantially more expensive than at a hospital.

Finally, he has very expensive and specially developed equipment to move around and interact with people. Much of this was designed only for him, so there are few or no other people who could lower expenses by economy of scale. This costs thousands upon thousands of pounds and was provided by the free market via donations. NHS would never pay for any of that. He was also given the opportunity of experiencing weightlessness in the so-called Vomit Comet, which costs nearly $4000 to you and me.

In spite of all the support free markets and capitalism have given him, like many a lover, he has not reciprocated. He supports the Labour Party, he supports the socialist NHS, and he wants to cripple economic freedom with the action against supposed human-caused climate change. This is not an uncommon view among thinkers and scientists. As smart as they are, they dont understand the real world and the social mechanics of the market and allocating resources. And they have privileged high ideals (Hawking went to Oxford) that they think can apply to all society. Hawking has never worked a real job outside of academia. He couldnt. In fact, if he were not so intelligent, he would have been left to die. Thank goodness for him, he has access to a capitalist world. Had he been born in the Soviet Union or Cuba, and not escaped, he would be long dead.