Benefit payments for obesity-related sickness are costing taxpayers a staggering £10 billion a year, a shock report found.
Tens of thousands more people would be prescribed weight-loss drugs on the NHS if the full impact of the costs were considered, according to consultancy LCP.
Ministers were warned the bill is completely unsustainable and they urgently need to find a solution that goes beyond “gimmicks and soundbites””
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The cost of sickness benefits to taxpayers has become completely unsustainable in recent years.
“There is now a genuinely urgent need for a solution which goes beyond gimmicks and soundbites and doesn’t simply involve throwing more money at a problem in the hope that it will go away.
“If a careful review focused on value for money demonstrates that ozempic prescriptions really can deliver results then ministers should absolutely consider it as an option.”
A record 2.8 million people are off work through long-term illness or disability, with the cost of benefits projected to rise from £65 billion to £100 billion by the end of the parliament. Around 4,000 claimants are on incapacity benefits only for “obesity”.
Every person on sickness benefits costs £9,300 a year more than someone unemployed, the report estimated.
The extra payments come through higher universal credit entitlements for incapacity, with most also receiving the personal independence payment.
Proposals to give weight loss jabs to unemployed people living with obesity could be “very important” for our economy and health, the Prime Minister said last month.
Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged that more money was needed for the NHS, and the government also needed to “think differently” to ease pressure on the health system.
His comments came after Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the jabs could be given to help people get back into work.
Some injections are already prescribed on the NHS for the treatment of obesity, and also for people with diabetes.
Sir Keir told the BBC the jabs would be “very helpful” to people who want and need to lose weight.
“[The drug is] very important for our NHS, because, yes we need more money for the NHS, but we’ve also got to think differently”.
Mr Streeting suggested the medicines could be “life changing” for individuals.
