Screenshot courtesy of Caring Majority Rising
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) shared his reaction on Friday, April 11, to news announced April 10 of a preliminary injunction agreement which delays a controversial transition deadline for the CDPAP homecare program by NYS Department of Health (DOH) to May 15 for consumers, and to June 6 for caregivers.
As reported, DOH is transitioning the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) from around 600 individual fiscal intermediaries (FIs) to one selected, statewide FI, Public Partnership, LLC (PPL).
CDPAP is a New York State Medicaid program that allows Medicaid members who are eligible for home care services to choose and hire their own personal caregiver, or “personal assistant”. This can include a friend or family member, as long as they are not the Medicaid member’s spouse, their designated representative or the parent of a CDPAP consumer under the age of 21.
As reported, advocates for older and disabled New Yorkers and their caregivers held a rally on Friday, April 4, in front of a Brooklyn federal courhouse to oppose what they felt was the tight transition timeframe which had an initial deadline of April 1 and had been ongoing since early January.
They alleged the transition was causing havoc to those either providing or receiving home care services. They later shared their reaction to a same day federal court ruling which had extended an initial temporary halt to [at least part of] the program’s transition. Reacting to the latest ruling, Rivera said, “It’s welcome news that the Executive and consumers have reached an agreement that will extend the CDPAP transition deadline to May 15 for consumers and June 6 for workers.”
He added, “However, for many, this relief is too little too late. Many workers have already left the program, leaving enrollees without someone to provide their care, and we are continuing to see systemic issues for those trying to remain in the program. The Executive could have avoided the chaos generated for many New Yorkers with an extension to the transition deadline.”
Rivera concluded, “I will continue to monitor this process closely to push PPL and the Department of Health to make sure that all workers get paid and consumers get the care they need.”
The New York Legal Assistance Group said the injunction agreement had been negotiated between the legal parties and described it as a critical step forward in making sure CDPAP consumers were able to maintain their services for now, and give them more time to manage the transition to PPL.
“We look forward to working together with the (NYS) Department of Health to make sure that CDPAP consumers and personal assistants have all the support they need to make this transition,” the group said.
Meanwhile, on April 9, NYADD Focus Group, an advocacy group for family members of CDPAP participants and their supporters, had alleged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Statement of Interest in a lawsuit filed against NYS DOH’s CDPAP changes. They alleged the DOJ was concerned that “thousands of patients and caregivers might be losing services or payments during the forced switch to PPL.”
They also alleged the DOJ was also concerned that New York “may have misled patients and caregivers” by promising no disruption, yet many were allegedly struggling or left without care. They further alleged that private health data may have been shared without proper consent, possibly violating HIPAA laws, that the DOJ is stepping in to make sure vulnerable New Yorkers aren’t harmed, and that the CDPAP program follows federal law.
Norwood News reached out to the DOJ and NYS DOH for comment. A DOH official responded, referring us to a statement by Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for Gov. Hochul, which read, “New York State’s much-needed CDPAP reforms will protect services for people who need them and put an end to runaway bureaucratic spending in this taxpayer-funded program. The transition from more than 600 administrative middlemen to one is a commonsense approach to cutting waste, fraud and abuse.”
It continued, “The parties in this litigation have come to a thoughtful agreement that supports the State’s ongoing CDPAP transition and ensures these reforms will proceed in full. The agreement has no impact on hundreds of thousands of consumers and workers who have already completed registration with PPL. It provides a limited window for additional consumers and workers to complete their registration with PPL, with updated deadlines of May 15 for consumers and June 6 for workers.”
The statement concluded, “The Department of Health will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that CDPAP consumers and workers receive the care and support they need, and the Department of Justice’s statement does not take away from that.” As of April 13, we had not received a response from the DOJ, but will share any feedback we receive.
Rivera had previously joined CDPAP recipients and caregivers at the State Capitol in Albany on March 10 to ask the governor to extend CDPAP’s transition deadline. “This is not a hypothetical, he had said at the time. “We are hitting the panic button. Thousands of consumers & providers are at risk of getting their care and employment suspended. We cannot allow that. Gov. Hochul please help these families and workers. Extend the transition.”
Meanwhile, State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald had previously sought to address what he said was misinformation about the transition and had stressed that regarding CDPAP eligibility, services were not changing, and New Yorkers enrolled in CDPAP would keep their home care services after the transition.
He added that those enrolled could also keep using their trusted caregiver, though their personal assistants would also need to transition to PPL to receive timely payments for providing care. Click here to read our previous story including the full response from DOH to the many allegations and complaints regarding the transition.
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