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Financial incentives can improve smoking-cessation rates, albeit modestly (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 1 2009 and N Engl J Med 2009; 360:699). Now, researchers — supported by both the National Institutes of Health and CVS Health Corporation — have examined financial incentives in a more nuanced way.
More than 2500 smokers were randomized to usual care or to one of four intervention programs:
An “individual reward” program, in which participants could earn as much as $800 if they quit and remained abstinent for 6 months
An “individual deposit” program, in which participants paid an initial deposit of $150, which was refunded as part of an eventual $800 payment for achieving abstinence
A “collaborative reward” program
A “competitive deposit” program
In the…