Pay for Prevention: A Strategy for Healthcare Prevention Shows Promise

With all the talk of healthcare or health insurance reform. There are lofty goals and a likelihood that cost will increase.  We will need to think outside the bx to have any real impact on healthcare cost. An idea that focuses on personal responsibility and health as opposed to illness is Pay for Prevention. A few large employers are working on Pay for Prevention. Pay for Prevention is a new strategy aimed at eliminating chronic health conditions associated with bad behavior by offering monetary incentives for leading a healthy lifestyle.  Recent studies have shown that 50 percent to 70 percent of the nation’s health care costs are preventable.  Such costs are usually associated with bad behaviors such as diet, lack of exercise, and smoking.  Healthcare providers, Insurers, and Employers are all jumping on board and the latest indications show that rewards for good behavior are much more effective than punishments for bad behavior.