Reward-Based Incentives for Smoking Cessation: How a Carrot Became a Stick

Health care payers have an increasing interest in using financial incentives to change personal health behaviors, with an estimated 82% of employers using financial incentives for healthy behavior in 2013.1 Several factors are fueling this increased interest: steadily increasing costs that have been resistant to traditional forms of control, the realization that the majority of costs are driven by chronic conditions, which are themselves in large part a result of lifestyle choices, and emerging reports that incentives have successfully modified behaviors in a variety of contexts.2,3 In addition, the Affordable Care Act allows employers to use up to 30% of total premiums (50% if programs include smoking) for outcomes-based rewards or penalties.4