Survey findings offer policymakers, program planners, and managers insight into consumer choice as well as concerns about potential fraud and abuse and service quality. The article provides a succinct, readable overview of the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation Program.
Consumers use the allowances to purchase services, assistive devices, and home modifications.
New York was one of the original four CCDE states. Presurvey focus groups, a telephone survey, and postsurvey focus groups assessed consumer interest in the cash option and identified characteristics for social marketing and communication purposes. Though New York did not implement Cash and Counseling, the survey findings are useful to those interested in the model. Interviewers surveyed 493 Medicaid personal care recipients or surrogates. Consumers tended to be female, have a high school education or less, rate their overall health status as fair or poor, be at least 65 years old, live alone, and have no experience hiring, firing, interviewing, supervising, or training workers.