The winner does get all the cash, the $88M is the amount it will yield if the winner is willing to allow the $40 to be invested in an annuity over the next 30 years. 

It like giving someone a few packages of seeds and telling them you have given them enough food for a life time if they are willing to start a garden with those seeds and maintain it for 30 years.

There's nothing anyone can do about it if they aren't very nice or needy!    

Yes, but keep in mind that the Powerball annuity is different than all others, because it increases each year.  The MUSL people say that it's beneficial, because it makes the annuity as valuable in the final year as it is in the first.  (Inflation makes most annuities much less valuable in the final years -- $200,000 per year will be worth a lot less 30 years from now.)

The side-effect (perhaps the intended effect) is that the annuity can increase faster than it would with a static annuity, relative to the cash value.

It can actually be a compelling option for someone who wants the security of knowing that they won't go bankrupt in a year by mis-managing their money.

My only problem with a PB annuity is that it starts out small and builds annually....well the first year would be the year I would need the most!!! I would want to move and buy a house and car somewhere else for my personal safety.  It seems they have that all backwards.  I know, I know, it's adjusted for inflation but the opposite would keep you more grounded:  Start out big then spend the rest of your life trying to maintain what you have instead of wasting it. I think it would make people more appreciative of it if they got less each year but that's JMHO