That's the thing, though. A read is worth at least $0.01. There is no read worth less than that.
I think Medium doesn't calculate a person's reading based on each read, but based on profiles. So, I'm pretty sure that you are in the high read profile, John, and your reads pay the minimum. But I might be in the high read profile, too, and that would make both our reads worth the same.
I do not know how Medium can make reads worth as much as they do (reads are often worth $0.10), but it must come from people who read very little.