Financial incentives for preventative care
Last Revised: December 9, 2025
- Issue Areas
- Health and well-being
Program overview
Encouraging patients to adopt preventative care: Financial incentives can be used to encourage patients to take preventative care measures to address a range of health issues. They have been shown to increase uptake of preventative care, including cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing, annual physicals, vaccinations, regular prenatal appointments, and early diabetes detection.
Interventions targeted at vulnerable populations: Preventative care financial incentives are generally directed toward low-income and high-risk patients. Eligibility may include income level, pre-existing diseases or predisposition toward certain diseases, or external risk factors such as homelessness and drug use. Most commonly, financial incentive programs are targeted toward patients relying on public insurance, such as Medicaid. Patients are generally invited to participate in programs by their medical providers, insurers, or community health centers.
Implemented by states: Typically, financial incentive programs are administered at the state level by Departments of Health and Human Services. Funding is sourced from Medicaid or State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) budgets. At times, the federal government has also offered grant funding to individual states in order to implement incentive programs for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Flexibility in form of incentive: Depending on the program, incentives can be delivered to patients as gift cards, debit cards, mailed checks, cash, or points to be redeemed from a rewards catalog. Depending on how the program is structured, patients can receive incentives immediately after appointments or after check-ins after regular intervals (e.g., quarterly) for patients who continue to meet the established criteria.
Multiple studies with rigorous designs demonstrate that patient financial incentives for preventative care are a well-supported strategy to increase the uptake of preventative care services.
- This assessment is based on evidence from a 2025 research synthesis.
Use data to identify participants and target outreach efforts: Often, incentive programs are developed for individuals on Medicaid or who have specific medical conditions. In order to identify individuals who are eligible to participate in the program, administrators should utilize available medical data (e.g., Medicaid claims or electronic health records). Partnerships with local Community Health Centers and nonprofit organizations can also help identify eligible participants. This can allow for a more targeted marketing campaign to recruit participants.
Ensure culturally appropriate programs for the target population: Incentive programs should be adapted to address community priorities and preferences. For example, if a program is providing incentives in the form of gift cards, it is important for providers to select gift cards that patients will be interested in using. Behavioral interventions should also be designed with a cultural lens, such as ensuring that healthy recipes in a weight loss program include versions of traditional foods in a given culture.