Abu Dhabi Offers Incentives to Keep Citizens Healthy

Source: Bloomberg News, November 15, 2012; Washington Post, November 15, 2012; LDI News November 16, 2012 Abu Dhabi is offering the world’s first state-sponsored health incentives program. The government will encourage disease-management companies to offer incentives such as airline miles, grocery discounts and cash to those who take steps to lower their risk of diabetes. Kevin Volpp comments that this could be difficult for a wealthy population and the success of the program depends on the design of the program along with the frequency of rewards and whether they take the form of penalties, incentives, discounts or checks in the mail.