Latest news with #ConsumerDirectedPersonalAssistanceProgram
New York Post
19-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
NY pols probe controversial $9B taxpayer-funded program for home-health-care aides: 'Significant concerns'
State lawmakers are launching a public hearing to probe New York's controversial $9 billion taxpayer-funded program that connects residents with home-health-care aides. State Senate Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) and state Sen. James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley) said they will be calling on people to testify about the troubled Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP. 4 State Senator James Skoufis announces that the Department of Motor Vehicles will remain in West Haverstraw. Tania Savayan/The Journal News via Imagn Content Services, LLC Advertisement 4 New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera speaking at a podium. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post The program initially came fire for its alleged rampant abuse and waste involving the under-regulated middlemen companies that were connecting residents with aides as part of the state-funded Medicare initiative. Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration then did away with the private go-betweens — but its awarding of the massive job to one firm in a no-bid contract only created more questions and outcry. Advertisement 'We are going to lay out in clear terms how the transition worked, what didn't work, how it happened and what are the things to learn to make sure that individuals being served by the program continue to be served,' Rivera said. 4 Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration then did away with the private go-betweens Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post Rivera said 'fallout is still being felt' from the governor's consolidation move – noting that some workers have not been paid or have left the program, while patients have not been getting the care they need and others have ended back in nursing homes 'or worse.' The program has already come under scrutiny from the feds, who The Post reported earlier this month are probing the governor's selection of Public Partnerships, LLC, as the sole 'fiscal intermediary' for CDPAP. Advertisement Skoufis said how that contact was awarded will be part of the state hearing's scope. 'We do have questions. We do have concerns,' he said. 'I have significant concerns about just how this company was awarded the contract and were they awarded the contract fairly.' 4 Rivera said 'fallout is still being felt' from the governor's consolidation move – noting that some workers have not been paid or have left the program. zinkevych – Hochul administration rep Sam Spokony said in a statement, 'New York State protected home care and prevented a fiscal crisis by putting an end to the waste, fraud and abuse of an old system. Advertisement 'The vast majority of consumers and workers have reported a positive experience with the new statewide fiscal intermediary.' The state lawmakers' hearing on the issue will be held July 9.
New York Post
11-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Kathy Hochul's gutless silence on assisted suicide is a betrayal: Rep. Stefanik
Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul attacked Republicans for their budget bill that aims to rein in wasteful and fraudulent federal spending. 'I believe that we should try to prevent our constituents from dying,' she declared. Now, just two weeks later, New Yorkers have proof that these words from Hochul's lips are a cruel lie. My heart shatters for our state: Hochul's gutless silence on the so-called assisted suicide bill passed by Albany's far-left Democrats isn't just cowardice; it's a betrayal of every New Yorker clinging to hope, a dagger in the backs of the vulnerable she swore to protect. In the last days of this year's legislative session, New York state Senate Democrats forced through a despicable measure, in a 35-27 vote, empowering doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to the terminally ill. This isn't 'dignity' or 'choice,' but a death sentence cloaked in deception, telling our elderly, our disabled and our sick that their lives aren't worth fighting for. The bill now sits on Hochul's desk, and where is she? Hiding. Silent. Dodging with a spineless 'she'll review the legislation' statement from her team. All while families of all political and spiritual backgrounds, all across New York, weep at the thought of our state allowing companies to profit off death. Hochul's hypocrisy knows no bounds. New York ranks dead last in access to palliative care, a compassionate lifeline that eases suffering and restores dignity for the terminally ill. Palliative care envelops patients in holistic support to manage pain and address emotional and spiritual needs, and it helps families navigate the unthinkable. It's doctors and nurses sitting bedside, listening to fears and crafting plans that honor life. It's the hand squeezed during a sleepless night, the reassurance that no one faces the end alone. Yet in Hochul's New York, only a fraction of those who need palliative services can access them — leaving the suffering to beg for comfort while leftist Democrats under her watch push a culture of death and despair. This failure compounds a broader crisis caused by Kathy Hochul's worthless leadership. One in five New Yorkers battles mental illness yearly, and hundreds of thousands go untreated. Those who live with disabilities are crushed by a cruel bureaucratic maze, worsened by Hochul's heartless overhaul of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which put the desires of politically connected contractors over the needs of suffering families and caregivers. Again and again, her policies destroy hope for those in need — and yet she stands mute and inept as her party peddles a bill that whispers 'Give up' to a depressed veteran, tells a grandmother with cancer 'You're a burden' and screams to a disabled New Yorker, 'Your life isn't worth saving.' It's anti-human, it's anti-American, and it's a betrayal of the values that bind us as New Yorkers. Hochul's silence here speaks volumes, and it isn't indecision but complicity, trading vulnerable lives for political points with her far-left Democrat base. New Yorkers are heartbroken and furious. Under Hochul's catastrophic reign, crime surges, costs crush families, corruption festers — and now the sanctity of life itself is under assault. People are fleeing to Florida and other states, driven out by the worst governor in America who fails them at every turn. Hochul has the power to veto this moral travesty. She could champion life by investing in palliative care that wraps the suffering in dignity and love. Instead, her silence screams surrender. I won't stay silent. My heart burns for the mother praying for one more day with her child, for the disabled New Yorker fighting for respect, for every soul this bill would discard. New York needs real leadership — robust palliative-care programs, accessible mental-health services and dignified support for the disabled — not a state-encouraged push toward the grave. In 2026, New Yorkers will reject this failed governor at the ballot box and restore principled leadership that cherishes every life. Kathy Hochul, the clock is ticking. Veto this bill or you'll be remembered as the governor who truly let hope die. New Yorkers are watching — and we won't forget. Republican Elise Stefanik represents New York's 21st District in Congress.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taxpayers — and politicians — will have just hours to review Hochul's $254 billion NY state budget before voting begins
ALBANY – State lawmakers will finally begin voting on New York's massive budget package Wednesday, but the public and even politicians themselves aren't sure what the spending bills will say. Thousands of pages of text that make up the budget bill were scheduled to be released starting on Tuesday night, meaning the public and even rank-and-file lawmakers would only have hours to review the package before voting on it. Some sources are even casting doubt on the $254 billion figure that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. Thousands of pages of bill language that make up the budget will be released beginning Tuesday evening, meaning the public and even rank-and-file lawmakers themselves will only have mere hours to study the package before voting on it. Hans Pennink 'The senators have not seen a budget bill, we are told they are on their way, and we're gonna begin voting this week, we haven't seen one,' State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Niagara) said. 'Let these bills age. Let us dig in. Let us know what we're voting for for the people of New York,' Ortt added. Under the state constitution, the legislature must wait three calendar days before voting on a newly introduced bill, such as the state budget. But that will be bypassed with a 'message of necessity' from Hochul that will allow an early vote on the budget. Multiple sources have already cast doubt on Gov. Kathy Hochul's $254 billion figure she announced last week. Hans Pennink for NY Post 'The governor has taken and abused what should be used only for emergencies and done that to jam budget bills through,' North Country state Sen. Mark Walczyk (R-Jefferson) said. Walczyk sponsored a bill that would prohibit messages of necessity from being used for the state budget. The state budget process is infamously opaque, with the majority of negotiations conducted behind closed doors with the governor and legislative leaders. State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Niagara) said, 'The senators have not seen a budget bill, we are told they are on their way, and we're gonna begin voting this week, we haven't seen one.' Houston Chronicle via Getty Images Last year, state lawmakers and the governor emerged from backroom talks with a surprise decision to overhaul a Medicaid homecare program, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. The proposal they enacted had never been previously revealed or openly discussed. The overhaul they approved has been fraught with accusations of bid rigging, lawsuits and now has led to homecare workers going without pay.
New York Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NYS lawmakers ready to pass budget bills, but even politicians aren't sure what the bills will say: 'Let us dig in'
ALBANY – State lawmakers will finally begin voting on New York's massive budget package Wednesday, but the public and even politicians themselves aren't sure what the spending bills will say. Thousands of pages of text that make up the budget bill were scheduled to be released starting on Tuesday night, meaning the public and even rank-and-file lawmakers would only have hours to review the package before voting on it. Some sources are even casting doubt on the $254 billion figure that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. Advertisement 3 Thousands of pages of bill language that make up the budget will be released beginning Tuesday evening, meaning the public and even rank-and-file lawmakers themselves will only have mere hours to study the package before voting on it. Hans Pennink 'The senators have not seen a budget bill, we are told they are on their way, and we're gonna begin voting this week, we haven't seen one,' State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Niagara) said. 'Let these bills age. Let us dig in. Let us know what we're voting for for the people of New York,' Ortt added. Advertisement Under the state constitution, the legislature must wait three calendar days before voting on a newly introduced bill, such as the state budget. But that will be bypassed with a 'message of necessity' from Hochul that will allow an early vote on the budget. 3 Multiple sources have already cast doubt on Gov. Kathy Hochul's $254 billion figure she announced last week. Hans Pennink for NY Post 'The governor has taken and abused what should be used only for emergencies and done that to jam budget bills through,' North Country state Sen. Mark Walczyk (R-Jefferson) said. Advertisement Walczyk sponsored a bill that would prohibit messages of necessity from being used for the state budget. The state budget process is infamously opaque, with the majority of negotiations conducted behind closed doors with the governor and legislative leaders. 3 State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Niagara) said, 'The senators have not seen a budget bill, we are told they are on their way, and we're gonna begin voting this week, we haven't seen one.' Houston Chronicle via Getty Images Advertisement Last year, state lawmakers and the governor emerged from backroom talks with a surprise decision to overhaul a Medicaid homecare program, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. The proposal they enacted had never been previously revealed or openly discussed. The overhaul they approved has been fraught with accusations of bid rigging, lawsuits and now has led to homecare workers going without pay.
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.
