Philly Family Trust Study
The Philly Family Trust Study (registered on ClinicalTrials.gov as the Pilot Guaranteed Income Study, Philadelphia) was a University of Pennsylvania pilot randomized controlled trial that gave unconditional cash transfers to low-income, Pennsylvania Medicaid-enrolled adults with type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and/or hypertension who were patients at Penn Family Care clinics in West Philadelphia. Fifty participants randomized to the intervention arm received eight payments of $125 every two weeks (totaling $1,000 over four months) on a prepaid ClinCard, while fifty control-arm participants received usual care only. The study examined whether short-term unconditional cash improved cardiovascular risk behaviors, financial stress, food/utility security, and objective health measures such as blood pressure and BMI. It was funded and run by Penn's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) at the Perelman School of Medicine, led by investigators Aaron Richterman, Christina Roberto, and Harsha Thirumurthy. Enrollment ran from spring through fall 2023, and a qualitative companion analysis of participants' experiences was published in 2026.
Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, Medicaid, Chronic Disease, Cardiovascular Risk, Health Behavior, Philadelphia, University Research Pilot
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- University of Pennsylvania – Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE)
- City
- Philadelphia
- State / Province
- Pennsylvania
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://chibe.upenn.edu/
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 50
- Funding type
- Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 1,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 250 USD
- Payment frequency
- Biweekly
- How long the program lasts
- 4 months
- Distribution Type
- Prepaid Debit Card (ClinCard)
- Benefit details
Intervention-arm participants received $125 every two weeks for 8 payments (total $1,000) loaded onto a ClinCard prepaid debit card over a 4-month period, with the first payment issued after the baseline assessment. Participants were separately compensated for completing research assessments ($25 baseline, $50 at 3-month follow-up), for optional at-home blood pressure monitoring (up to $48), and for an optional qualitative interview ($35), all via the same ClinCard system. Pennsylvania confirmed in writing that the cash transfers would not count as income for TANF, Medicaid, SNAP, LIHEAP, or LIHWAP eligibility, though participants were warned of a small risk of SSI overpayment recoupment.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible participants were adult (18+) Pennsylvania Medicaid enrollees who were patients of Penn Family Care in West Philadelphia, had at least one clinic visit in the prior six months, carried a diagnosis of pre-diabetes/diabetes and/or hypertension, and were actively prescribed medication for one of those conditions. Participants had to be regular residents of the Philadelphia metro area with no plans to move within six months, be English speakers, and be able to provide informed consent; they could not share a household with another enrolled participant.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
- Language
- English
Health
- Health conditions
- Type 2 Diabetes, Pre-diabetes, Hypertension
Financial
- Currently receiving government benefits
- Required
Geography
- US states covered
- Pennsylvania
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Philadelphia
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Research / participation requirements
This program was itself a research study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05838027) run by University of Pennsylvania investigators Aaron Richterman, MD MPH (Division of Infectious Diseases), Christina Roberto, PhD (Medical Ethics and Health Policy), and Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD (Medical Ethics and Health Policy), funded by Penn's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE). All participants completed baseline and 3-month surveys covering health behaviors, financial stress, food/utility security, mental health, and cognitive bandwidth, plus objective height/weight/blood pressure measurement; 16 participants also piloted take-home blood pressure cuffs. A subset of up to 35 participants took part in optional in-depth qualitative interviews about their study experience, analyzed and published as 'Unconditional cash transfers to improve health behaviors among primary care patients: a qualitative sub-study of a randomized clinical trial' (Gibson et al., Social Science & Medicine, 2026).
Application Process
- How to apply
Participation was not open to public sign-up. Eligible patients were identified by researchers through Penn Family Care's electronic health records (via EPIC SlicerDicer) and invited by a MyPennMedicine portal message, followed by text message and, if needed, phone outreach, to complete a REDCap interest survey. Interested, eligible patients were then contacted by phone to confirm interest and schedule an in-person baseline visit for informed consent and enrollment.
- Selection process
After confirming eligibility from the electronic health record and completing informed consent at an in-person baseline visit, participants were randomized 1:1 using a permuted-block method (block size of 4) to either the usual-care control arm or the unconditional cash transfer intervention arm.
