PURPOSE: Evaluate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases (MIPCD) program in terms of participant satisfaction and self-reported program impact.
DESIGN: Participant survey (mail/telephone follow-up), English and Spanish (N = 2274).
SETTINGS: Ten states in MIPCD program.
PARTICIPANTS: Medicaid beneficiaries.
INTERVENTION: Incentive-based health promotion programs targeting diabetes prevention and management, smoking cessation, and weight, hypertension, and cholesterol management.
MEASURES: Dependent measures are (1) overall program satisfaction and (2) self-reported program impact, operationalized as whether program helped with understanding health issues, learning ways to take care of health, and encouraging healthy lifestyle changes.
ANALYSIS: Multilevel multivariable ordinal logistic regression models to identify predictors of overall program satisfaction and program impact.
RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent were very satisfied with the program, and 76% strongly agreed the program encouraged healthy lifestyle changes. Age (59+ vs <45 years) and being female predicted overall program satisfaction. Satisfaction with specific aspects of the program including communication with staff, accessibility, and incentives predicted higher overall satisfaction. Age (45-52 vs <45 years) and being black or Hispanic predicted higher program impact. Points redeemable for rewards performed worse than money-valued incentives in terms of encouraging lifestyle changes (odds ratio [OR], 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.82). Participants receiving incentives valued at $25 to <$100 were more likely to report higher agreement that the program helped them learn ways to care for their health (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.21-2.44) and encouraged lifestyle changes (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.10), compared to participants receiving incentives valued at $0 to <$25. Incentives valued at $100 to <$400 predicted higher agreement that the program helped with understanding of health issues (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.13-2.33), compared to incentives valued at $0 to <$25.
CONCLUSION: Effective chronic disease prevention programs are needed for Medicaid populations. Study findings highlight important considerations for incentive-based programs.
