“Can You Pass the New York State COVID-19 Death Risk Test?,” by Allison Bell,ThinkAdvisor

Quote:

“The New York State Office for the Aging is using the power of the online quiz to try to help people reduce their risk of dying from COVID-19. The agency has joined with the Association of Aging in New York and BellAge, a New York-based aging tech firm, to offer consumers a free, no-signup CV19 CheckUp assessment tool. The quiz includes questions about matters such as age, lifestyle and social distancing habits. The system then spits out four graphics. One graphic rates how well the survey taker appears to be doing at keeping safe. Another rates the riskiness of the survey taker’s activities, and a third rates the exposure the survey taker faces from the survey taker’s close contacts.”

 

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

I took this quiz out of curiosity. What was interesting was the very last question, which asked the quiz takers to check all the things or services they need but don’t have. There are about 20 choices including financial help, personal protective equipment, caregiver assistance, and so on and on. I didn’t need anything so I looked for the “next” button to complete the survey. But there was none until I asked for the State of New York to give me some product or service. Then the “next” button popped up. When I removed the help item I’d been compelled to choose, the button remained and I was able to escape the quiz without asking for public assistance. But not without New York trying to give me free stuff. That’s how New York runs its Medicaid long-term care program too.