Latest news with #CDPAP
New York Post
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Feds investigate Gov. Kathy Hochul's home care program reforms after chaotic rollout: source
ALBANY – Federal investigators are probing Gov. Kathy Hochul's troubled consolidation of a popular $9 billion Medicaid homecare program, The Post has learned. The US Department of Justice has interviewed officials from Public Partnerships, LLC, the firm hand-picked by the state Department of Health to handle 'middleman' payroll services for the consumer directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP. 'They have been very active over the last couple months in investigating the transition and the various concerns that have been raised related to it,' a source who has had direct contact with investigators said. Advertisement The Department of Justice is probing Gov. Kathy Hochul's Medicaid homecare program reforms. Stephen Yang 'They are devoting significant resources to the investigation with an eye towards potential criminal or civil actions at the conclusion of the investigation,' the source added, noting that the investigators on the case are career professionals from the agency's consumer protection division. Hochul's administration forced the nearly 280,000 people receiving care under CDPAP to re-register from their current payroll services firm or 'fiscal intermediary' to PPL. The change was ostensibly made to cut down on the waste, fraud and abuse stemming from under-regulation of the hundreds of firms that used to handle the payroll services for CDPAP home caregivers. Advertisement A court stepped in at the last minute to try to alleviate an increasingly unrealistic April 1 deadline set by the DOH for the transition — with PPL massively backlogged and many home care aides in danger of going unpaid. Even with the injunction in place, caregivers are still reporting significant issues getting paid, even prompting legal action. Earlier this year, the DOJ's Consumer Affairs Branch chimed in on a federal lawsuit saying it would keep an eye on the situation. The Hochul administration forced people receiving care under the CDPAP to re-register their current payroll services firm or 'fiscal intermediary' to Public Partnerships, LLC. zinkevych – The six-page 'statement of interest' expressed concerns that the health department proceeded with the transition despite significant warning signs it would fail, made false statements about impacts on consumers' eligibility for the Medicaid program, and did not ensure sensitive personal health data was protected during the process. Advertisement 'The transition process—transferring, within a short period of time, CDPAP services for hundreds of thousands of patients from hundreds of Fiscal Intermediaries to PPL—has been plagued by myriad structural, operational, and logistical defects,' Assistant Director of DOJ's Consumer Affairs Branch, Patrick Runkle, wrote in the court filing. The source said the DOJ's probe follows those same lines, and also could extend to allegations surrounding the impetus of Hochul's push to overhaul the program, including allegations the $1.05 billion contract PPL was awarded was rigged. 'They're interested in the full-scope of the transition, the selection and transition,' the source said. Advertisement The DOJ didn't respond to a request for comment. A Hochul spokesperson called the reforms 'much-needed' and said they would stop 'the runaway bureaucratic spending' that put the program 'on the verge of a fiscal crisis.' 'Removing more than 600 administrative middlemen is a commonsense approach to cutting waste, fraud and abuse,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'The CDPAP transition is proceeding effectively and the Department of Health will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that consumers and workers receive the care and support they need,' Hochul's spokesperson continued. A PPL spokesperson said the company would continue to 'work diligently to support' consumers and workers who wish to continue in the program. A health department spokesperson said the agency 'remains committed to prioritizing continuity of care for consumers and fair treatment of personal assistants,' but did not comment further.
Politico
19-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Consumers request extension of CDPAP preliminary injunction
Beat Memo Attorneys representing participants in New York's consumer-directed personal assistance program filed a motion Thursday aiming to extend a partial delay of the program's consolidation, the New York Legal Assistance Group revealed. Consumers are requesting a federal judge to extend a preliminary injunction agreed on by the state and the plaintiffs that is set to expire on June 6. They are requesting the injunction be extended until Aug. 15, and called for greater transparency and accountability from the state and Public Partnerships LLC, the company that took the administrative system for the program. Public Partnerships has been accused by workers and consumers in separate lawsuits of mishandling payroll and sensitive information for participants in the program. 'Our team is hearing daily from CDPAP consumers across the state who are still unable to register with PPL, whose personal assistants are still unable to register with PPL, and whose personal assistants are not able to clock time or be paid correctly,' Elizabeth Jois, one of the attorneys litigating the case, said in a statement Friday. 'What is crystal clear to everyone in the CDPAP community is that the transition to PPL has been chaotic, and has resulted in far too many CDPAP consumers losing services,' Jois added. 'These failures continue to jeopardize the safety of Disabled New Yorkers who rely on the CDPAP program, while forcing home care workers into prolonged financial insecurity.' The proposal filed by consumers would require the state to identify every CDPAP consumer who has gone without some or all care for the past two weeks, and assign them one-on-one assistance to navigate the troubled new administrative system. That includes consumers with personal assistants who quit, and those with assistants who have been working without pay, regardless of their registration status. Last week, state lawmakers reignited their push against the transition with a new piece of legislation that would open the door to having more than one fiscal intermediary. The legislation would create a separate class of fiscal services companies contracted through the state Department of Health, who would work with independent living centers to handle administrative tasks and payroll for program participants. 'I decided to sponsor this bill because it is necessary to consider every option to address the ongoing chaos created by the failed transition to a single FI,' bill sponsor state Sen. Gustavo Rivera told Spectrum News Thursday. 'One month after the transition occurred, 99,000 workers had not received a single paycheck and saw their health benefits basically erased while countless of disabled and older New Yorkers have been left without care. People are hitting a breaking point — we've even heard of workers who are planning on sleeping in their cars because they cannot pay their rent.' IN OTHER NEWS: — A preliminary injunction was issued Friday in a multi-state lawsuit over a Trump administration move to rescind $11 billion in federal public health funding, including $400 million for New York state. The money was allocated during the pandemic for Covid-related initiatives and mental health and substance abuse efforts. 'The previously rescinded funds support the long-overdue modernization of the city's infectious disease work to prevent and quickly respond to future public health emergencies,' acting Health Commissioner Michelle Morse said in a statement, expressing gratitude for the preliminary injunction. 'We continue to be in close communication with our partners on next steps.' ON THE AGENDA: — Thursday at 10 a.m. The City Council hosts a hearing on the executive budget for NYC Health + Hospitals. — Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Medicaid Managed Care Advisory Review Panel will meet via conference call. — Friday at 10 a.m. The City Council hosts a hearing on the health, mental health, disabilities and addiction portions of the executive budget. GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at mkaufman@ and Katelyn Cordero at kcordero@ Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. What you may have missed — After 'Aid in Dying' legislation passed the state Assembly last month, its fate in the Senate became one of the most anticipated outcomes in the legislative session. Twenty-five of the 40 Senate Democrats have signed on as sponsors, but it's likely that 32 will have to embrace the bill — which would let doctors help euthanize people with terminal illnesses — for it to receive a floor vote. POLITICO Pro's Katelyn Cordero and Bill Mahoney spoke with 11 rank-and-file Senate Democrats who have yet to sign on to the measure. Odds and Ends NOW WE KNOW — Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. TODAY'S TIP — Avoid overeating by developing an 'anti-cravings tool kit.' STUDY THIS — Via WaPo: New research finds an association between a healthy diet in childhood and a later first menstrual period. What We're Reading — Ozempic knockoffs survive crackdown thanks to a loophole. (The Wall Street Journal) — As Congress debates cutting Medicaid, a major study shows it saves lives. (The New York Times) — The World Health Organization looks ahead to life without the U.S. (Reuters) Around POLITICO — Federal judge hands HRSA 340B wins as pharma pushes changes, Lauren Gardner reports. — Trump admin weighs changes to user fees to counter concerns over pharma industry influence, David Lim reports. MISSED A ROUNDUP? Get caught up on the New York Health Care newsletter.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Medicaid home care program change has left thousands statewide without care or pay for month
May 2—New York's transition to a single company to manage the hundreds of thousands of Medicaid patients and their caregivers in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program is still hitting major roadblocks, now a month after the new company was supposed to have fully onboarded the assistants and clients. In his north country district, Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, has been helping local CDPAP clients interface with PPL, the new company, bridging gaps that have left nearly a dozen local residents without pay or the care they've been promised. According to details shared by the Assemblyman and his office, a handful of local residents who were on the CDPAP program before the April 1 transition deadline have now gone at least a month without their caregivers being paid, and continue to struggle to reach PPL for a resolution. Constituent casework documents indicate that many patients are complaining that PPL does not honor call back requests, and have been instructed to instead wait on hold when they call for assistance — a wait that could take hours. Details from casework conversations detail a number of complex situations — one individual, a personal assistant, explained that they had worked for a previous intermediary company up until April 1, and given no information on the transition from that previous company, FreedomCare. When they called on April 1 for more information, the company had already dissolved its CDPAP office. They began applying and eventually did register with PPL, both themselves and their client. That same individual explained that the client's insurance company, which handles their Medicaid benefits including CDPAP, has strict restrictions on hours per week worked for the client, but PPL has not honored those restrictions, leaving the client for days without care. Another case details a PA who thought they were fully transitioned and has in fact been paid by PPL, but has received split payments over multiple checks repeatedly. That worker noted that they've submitted for direct deposit, but PPL continues to issue paper checks through the mail. Yet another case involves one of five personal assistants who care for a north country individual with a traumatic brain injury — the PA said they've registered with PPL but it's unclear if the patient is properly registered as well. They've reached out to PPL, they say, but have failed to reach a real human agent to actually discuss the issue — in the meantime, the five caregivers for this one patient have gone unpaid for weeks. In an interview, Gray said he and his team have been working on this issue for weeks, taking constituent complaints and ferrying information back and forth between the constituents and Gray's contacts at PPL, including their government affairs team. "I don't want to go back and forth with them," he said. "I said 'tell me what you need, we'll get the information, we'll put it on a spreadsheet and we'll send it to you'." Gray said one key issue that PPL informed him of was that there were a number of cases where the company had multiple clients or PA's applying for registration with the same names — the company told him they needed telephone numbers and emails to cross-reference their list of repeated names to fix specific payroll issues. There are other hangups still preventing people from getting paid, but issues are being closed progressively — he said he's handled 17 cases, and 10 have been resolved as of Friday. There are still concerns over unregistered PA's, who don't have accounts with PPL and still need to complete the registration process. From the cases Gray's office has shared, a significant number of issues seem connected to a lack of information provided to the PA's and the clients by DOH or PPL — leaving huge gaps in understanding of what is the clients or PA's responsibility and how to progress through the application and registration process. The original registration deadline was April 1 — but the state DOH had to offer a "grace period," which they took great effort to not classify as a delay in the implementation, of up to May 1 to complete registration. That timeline was thrown out the window by a federal court decision last month that ruled the DOH and PPL had to give clients until mid-May, and PA's until mid-June to complete registration with the new company. In the interim, the previous intermediary companies are meant to still pay the PA's for their hours worked, with state Medicaid dollars mandated to still flow to them for the time-being. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for PPL said that the company's call centers and online resources are freely available and have been ramped up to handle the transition of hundreds of thousands of clients and assistants. "We have more than 2,000 people supporting the customer service center, which is open six days per week, and have another 500 people supporting other operational functions including payroll," the company said in a statement through the spokesperson. "We offer daily appointments at our offices across the state and have 45 facilitator partners who also offer in-person or phone assistance." And on Friday, the company issued a press release noting that just over 165,000 PAs had submitted timesheets for the last pay period, accounting for about 80% of all PAs registered with the company. Almost all who submitted timesheets were paid, and the company has paid at least 172,000 PAs for time worked since April 1, even if those PA's haven't submitted a timesheet for every pay period, and the company has paid $395 million in gross payroll. "While there remain temporary options to be paid by other fiscal intermediaries, each week we are seeing an increasing number of PAs submit timesheets to PPL," said company president Maria Perrin. "We continue to focus on helping PAs get registered and providing education and support on timekeeping and other service needs." Those 172,000 PAs are a long way from the more than 400,000 PAs who cared for about 280,000 CDPAP clients before April 1 — and its far lower than the number of PAs who have tried to register with PPL. Earlier in March, the state Health Department said 245,000 PAs have started or completed registration, and 215,000 had access to the payroll app. Payroll app access doesn't mean a PA is eligible to work, however. Meanwhile, the transition has also kicked tens of thousands of clients out of the CDPAP program — the state DOH has said 60,000 of the original 280,000 clients have moved to other care options, and about 4,000 CDPAP clients had made no determination on their care. Thousands of clients are still working through the transition process, now over a month after their PAs temporarily stopped receiving payments and lost their benefits like health insurance. According to the PPL statement from Friday, the company is working to fulfill state and federal requirements for all PAs — ensuring they have the right to work in the U.S. and are eligible to be a PA in CDPAP. The company said if a PA submits a timesheet without completing all documentation, the company reaches out to help fix the issue.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Governor Hochul weighs in on CDPAP complaints
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — News 8 is continuing to cover the overhaul of the state's Medicaid-funded program which allows people living with disabilities the power to choose their own care providers. The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) has been around for decades, however during last year's budget session, the Governor announced the massive restructuring, claiming fraud and waste have directly contributed to the ballooning costs, expected to have surpassed $11-billion in 2025. Previously, there were 600+ fiscal intermediaries, companies which handled administrative tasks, such as payroll, but now there is the sole, state-selected FI: Public Partnerships LLC (PPL). News8 has shared and received complaints regarding PPL's website crashing, calls not being returned, the app utilized for clock-in/out (Time4Care) not properly working, and more recently payments not being paid out properly. Georgia McCabe participates in CDPAP as she cares for her son, Brendan, who is legally blind, has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She explains that she, along with the other care team members for her son, had wanted to wait a little bit in January after the rollout opened up to allow for any issues to be ironed over, however when she went to make the switch, the information was already obtained. 'All of the sudden one day I just got these email and text messages saying that everything had already been uploaded. And I'm like, I didn't do that but basically, they had all the information for the PA's, as well as my son, and that included his Medicaid number, his name, his address, his social security, etc.' McCabe says. She's now grown even more wary of any security protocol and says she's locked down her credit reports, signed up for identity guard, and even had title lock insurance. 'My biggest concern is what kind of compliance do they have from HIPPA; since it's Medicaid and it's health related information you know anyone who has access to that usually goes through some sort of training and there are best practices like, do the employees have background checks done on them, did they have any kind of verification, what kind of roll access do these people have? If they're working remote, I have even stronger concerns about the kind of cybersecurity practices they might have in place, or data protection compliance in terms of the various portals people would be utilizing,' McCabe says. During Governor Kathy Hochul's visit to Rochester on Monday to discuss the budget, which is now three weeks late, News8's Isabel Garcia asked why the administration remains committed to continuing the overhaul at this stage given all the concerns and reported issues: 'We've been talking about this for over a year – this is not an unexpected transition, it was passed in last year's budget so an entire year has passed where we started telling people that this is going to happen and your care will not be disrupted in the long term; a few hiccups early on, but taking care of — but basically starting in January people could transition, they had until April — now it's May 15 – but I will also tell you this, and I hope your reporting will investigate this: there are individual companies who have refused to turn over the information about their patients for the transition to be successful; we are not able to reach them and tell them what was necessary because they were saying, despite the law in the State of New York, they're being obstinate and not sharing that information so I think if you look at the cause for some of this disruption, it is at the hands of those who are intentionally trying to thwart our efforts to make sure we take care of our patients but also stop this wild abuse of taxpayer dollars,' said Governor Hochul. The NYS Dept. of Health set up hotline to assist with CDPAP inquiries: The agency also provided the following response when asked about security measures as it relates to PPL: 1-833-947-8666 Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 'The Department continues to closely monitor this transition as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting access to care and supporting caregivers.' Additional Information: Regarding the contract, the qualifying language was approved by the State Legislature and the RFP was put out for public bid. The Department of Health followed the standard procurement process, reviewed over 100 responses, and scored each proposal based on the qualifying language, as per state law. At the end of that process, PPL scored the highest and was selected. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local caregivers report delays with CDPAP payments since transition to new fiscal intermediary
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – It has been two and a half weeks since the April 1st deadline for the families of people with disabilities and their caregivers across New York State under the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) to register and transition to the new statewide fiscal intermediary, Public Partnership LLC (PPL). Before this change, caregivers were able to receive payment for their in-home services through one of an estimated 600 available fiscal intermediaries across the state. Now, all caregivers will receive payment from PPL as the sole state entity. The transition process has not been easy for many folks statewide. Many folks have reported only receiving a partial payment, being overpaid or have not been paid at all for the services they provide. President and CEO of the Regional Center for Independent Living Bruce Darling explained what this has meant for caregivers who say they've been impacted. 'People are looking at alternative [jobs], potentially cutting back hours because they need to find money to live, pay rent and their bills,' Darling said. 'That means disabled people don't have someone to help get them out of bed, help them in the bathroom, and it really puts people at significant risk of harm' Here in Rochester, Heather Burroughs and her family are facing this challenge. She is an advocate and the mother of a daughter who is disabled, whose name is Devyn. She says out of the 10 total caregivers who provide in-home care for Devyn, 9 of them are paid through CDPAP. She said due to the payout concerns caregivers have expressed over the last couple weeks, it has caused difficulty for them to be able to continue the work they do. 'The 10 women who come to my home are like family and a lot of caregivers live paycheck-to-paycheck,' Burroughs said. 'Lots of them work two or three jobs to make ends meet, so when you have two weeks in a row where you don't get paid or get paid the wrong amount it's devastating.' There are multiple lawsuits currently challenging this transition and one action in court was taken by the Regional Center for Independent Living. 'We're concerned that people may lose their freedom, but we're more concerned that what's going to happen is people will simply go without care. That will result in increased Medicaid spending and will potentially put people's lives at risk. Disabled people's lives matter too,' Darling said. State leaders say by cutting down their fiscal intermediaries to just one, it saves an estimated $1 billion. New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald also notes on the CDPAP website that this change does not affect program eligibility requirements or the services it allows for. News 8 reached out to PPL for comment on the alleged payout delays and errors and provided the following statement in response: We have been processing payroll daily since the first payroll date on April 10 to ensure all PAs who have recently completed their registration or submitted timecards are paid promptly. If a PA submitted their time to PPL by the payroll deadline but did not receive payment, or if the payment amount was different than submitted, the following are common reasons this may have occurred: The timesheet did not comply with the service authorization or a program rule, or it was missing pertinent information. Examples of these include time entries that are over the allowed amount on the service authorization, a duplicate entry, or for paper timesheets, the PA or consumer information was not included. Once these time entries are resolved, payments are processed. Time was submitted for service dates before April 1 and PPL was not the consumer's fiscal intermediary (FI) until April 1. In this case, the former FI should pay for the time worked prior to April 1. The PA submitted time but has not completed registration with PPL, including providing required I-9 documentation. Once PPL receives the compliant documents, the company will release payment. We also have seen some claims saying PAs received a $0 paycheck. A PA would receive a $0 paycheck if they requested extra withholding on their W4 and their gross pay was equal to or less than the extra holding requested plus their other deductions for federal and state taxes. For example, many PAs were automatically issued paychecks for training time. These may have been small amounts because the EVV training takes about 10 minutes to complete. If the PA had a training time payment and had requested extra withholding on their W4, it could result in a zero net paycheck. Any individuals who received zero net paychecks were verified as accurate and reflected their request for additional withholding. We are committed to continuity of care and the sustainability of this program. For 25 years, our mission has been to expand access to self-directed care and make these programs work better for everyone. By ensuring that all timesheets and payments are completed in accordance with CDPAP consumer service authorizations and program rules, as per State and Federal Medicaid guidelines, resources can be directed to providing these critical services while reducing fraud and waste. Public Partnership LLC Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
