Health Care

States turn to rewards-based addiction treatment

A bill advancing in Pennsylvania would create statewide grants for programs that reward participants with non-cash incentives.
Harold Lewis, a recovering drug user, looks at a pair of sunglasses he won by picking paper slips with prizes written on them out of a fishbowl, Monday, July 18, 2022 at Liberation Programs in Bridgeport, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

States struggling to address a stubborn rise in stimulant addiction are increasingly turning to a once-controversial but evidence-backed treatment model: paying people to stay sober.  

The latest is Pennsylvania, where lawmakers last week advanced legislation that would create statewide grants for addiction recovery programs that reward participants with gift cards and other non-cash incentives for meeting goals such as submitting negative drug tests or attending counseling sessions. 

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