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Incapacity Benefit: Medical Examinations

Volume 472: debated on Friday 7 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the annual cost of medical examinations for those on incapacity benefit is expected to be under his proposed system. (189094)

The medical assessment process for employment and support allowance (ESA) will be delivered under contract by Atos Healthcare. The net additional cost to deliver this part of ESA is estimated to be in the region of £200 million for the period up to August 2015. This covers the costs of the new medical assessments including the new work focused health-related assessment, gathering information from customers and health care professionals, investments in information technology and Estates infrastructure, overheads and set-up costs.