Watch: California Pays Drug Users To Stay Clean

June 13, 2024

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</p> <p>KFF Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart appeared on <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west">Spectrum News 1</a>’s “<a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/shows/la-times-today">LA Times Today</a>” last week to explain how California is trying to help hard-drug users kick their habit by paying them to stay clean.</p> <p>California was the first state to expand access to this cutting-edge addiction treatment, called “<a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/contingency-management-treatment-suds">contingency management</a>,” in its Medicaid program. Washington and Montana have since followed.</p> <p>California is focusing on stimulants like meth and cocaine. Under the program, participants must pee into a cup regularly, and if the urine is free of stimulants, they get paid with a gift card, starting at $10 for the first test. The longer they abstain, the more they’re paid — up to $599 a year.</p> <p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/0000018f-eab6-dd9d-af8f-ebb6d0ed0000-123">Click here</a> to watch Hart discuss the treatment on “LA Times Today.”</p> <p>You can read Hart’s <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/california-pays-meth-users-sober-contingency-management-calaim/">in-depth article</a> about California’s initiative. She also wrote about <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-brief-california-pays-to-stay-drug-free/">national efforts</a> to encourage other states to adopt the novel approach.</p> <p><em>This article was produced by </em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us"><em>KFF Health News</em></a><em>, which publishes </em><a href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/"><em>California Healthline</em></a><em>, an editorially independent service of the </em><a href="http://www.chcf.org/"><em>California Health Care Foundation</em></a><em>.</em> </p> <p>
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