A few years back, New York City started offering some students and their parents what amounted to bribes for doing things such as attending school regularly, passing exams or going to the dentist. The average family in the program got more than $3,000 a year. But the bribes did little to improve student performance. New York finally scrapped the program.
Alas, that expensive silliness was not confined to the Big Apple.
In Philadelphia, some patients participated in a “lottery” to encourage them to take their medication. They could win up to $100 per day just for being sure to take their medicine.
The theory was that the “winnings” would help patients avoid more serious medical problems resulting from the failure to take prescribed medicines. Not surprisingly, some patients did become more diligent about adhering to their prescription regimens during the six-month lottery — and enjoyed the extra cash.
But we should be wary of offering such “benefits” for doing “the basics,” because that can have unintended consequences. As one health expert told The New York Times, “Will others think, ‘If I behave like a potential non-complier, I’ll get money for taking medication’? And once you start paying people to take medication, when do you stop paying them?”