Effect of Cash Benefits on Health Care Spending

Part of paid clinical trials in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sponsor
Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)
Study ID
NCT07381049
Status
Active Not Recruiting

Conditions

  • Health Care Costs
  • Health Care Utilization

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
N/A - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Cash Benefit — OTHER
    Spending from the cards was not restricted to food but could be spent on anything and anywhere Visa was accepted. The debit cards were credited with the first payment on November 18th, 2020 and the second payment on December 18th, 2020. The program continued with monthly credits through August 2021.
  • No Cash Benefit — OTHER
    No monthly cash benefit.

Study Details

During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Chelsea, Massachusetts held a lottery to allocate monthly cash benefits to its residents. Using data from the Chelsea Eats program, the investigators propose to study the impact of the cash benefit on health care spending.

Key Dates

Start date
Jul 27, 2020
Status verified
Feb 2026
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2021
Completion
Dec 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment
3,615 participants (actual)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: Treatment Group
    Participants in the treatment group received up to $400 per month.
  • Active Comparator: Control Group
    Participants in the control group did not receive monthly cash benefits.

Primary Outcome Measure

Health care spending for medical services [ Time Frame: 9 months ]

Locations (3)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusetts02115-
Harvard UniversityCambridgeMassachusetts02138-
University of MichiganAnn ArborMichigan48109-

Find similar trials in Boston, MA

By research site
Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School· Boston, MAHarvard University· Cambridge, MAUniversity of Michigan· Ann Arbor, MI

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