In the November 23 issue of BusinessWeek, I read an interesting article in the "In Depth" section that discussed insurance companies testing a plan that offered participants no co-pays for diabetic supplies/drugs.  United is one of the companies that are testing this type of plan designed at trying to contain costs.  The plan and trend is managed care is called "value-based insurance". 

The idea is ultimately to offer financial incentives to patients based on their specific health issue.  It’s no secret that diabetes costs in the health care system are estimated at $174 billion a year.  With the alarming trend in new diabetes cases, this number could be even more absurd in the years to come. 

The question I have is; would you try harder, do better, eat less bad food, exercise more, workout more, and ultimately have a better A1c if someone was going to pay you.  I’m not saying this is what United is getting at; but hypothetically, would you do better if someone was going to pay you $100 per .1 drop in your A1c (going from 7.1 to 6.1 would net you $1,000).  I would think It would have to be very meaningful for people to take note and do better.  I mean, what’s more motivation than being alive and living a healthy life?  Money, hmmm, don’t think so. 

The whole problem with diabetes is that the effects are not immediate or even in the relative vicinity when you don’t take good care of yourself.  It’s 10 years down the road that the effects of poor control catch up and then it’s too late.  If you started to lose feeling in your feet right after eating that DQ Large Blizzard, I bet diabetes would be a lot more in check with people.

Back to the article, I think it’s an interesting concept to give financial rewards to those who work hard. 

What do you think?