[Cdpaanys] NY Post: Hochul’s homecare program havoc leaves workers unpaid as federal court steps in

[Laura Cardwell]

*Hochul’s homecare program havoc leaves workers unpaid as federal court
steps in*
NY Post
<https://nypost.com/2025/04/13/us-news/hochuls-homecare-program-havoc-leaves-thousands-of-workers-unpaid-as-federal-court-steps-in/>
|
Vaughn Golden

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul’s attempt to overhaul a costly Medicaid program
is leaving homecare workers without pay and vulnerable people in jeopardy
as a federal court steps in to try and mitigate the situation.

A last-minute court intervention by non-profit Independent Living Center
groups resulted in an agreement by the state to extend timelines for aides
and consumers in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, CDPAP,
to work their way through the beleaguered registration process with the
state’s new hand-picked firm.

“The state needs to take action immediately. At this point, most people
have been negotiating with their workers to get assistance during this
crisis so we haven’t yet seen people go to emergency rooms,” said Brooke
Erickson, Vice President for Programs at Regional Center for Independent
Living (RCIL), one of the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, all signs are pointing towards massive errors in pay for
homecare aides.

One aide, Tara Murphy, told reporters Friday that she and her consumer have
faced issues registering with Public Partnerships LLC, the new hand-picked
firm in charge of paying aides, and that she received a pay stub for $0
last week for completing a training.

“I wasn’t paid by PPL this week. I don’t know if I’m going to be paid by
the PPL,” Murphy said.

Another 30-year recipient in the program told The Post two of his three
aides weren’t paid for their correct hours last week.

He was able to front one of the aides $200, but critics worry thousands of
the program’s nearly 280,000 original consumers will be left without care
as they and their aides face far more dire situations.

A spokesperson for PPL told The Post the company paid only about 100,000
aides who submitted “compliant timecards” last week, out of about 160,000
aides who have fully transitioned to PPL, according to the Department of
Health’s latest figures.

The company did not pay aides who submitted timecards after a strict
midnight deadline and those with outstanding paperwork issues, according to
the spokesperson. The company also dismissed Murphy’s $0 pay stub as an
error likely caused because she chose to have taxes withheld.

It’s unclear how many of the 60,000 who weren’t paid out by PPL may be
getting paid out by their previous homecare intermediary, given the court’s
injunction over the transition.

“We have not identified errors from the payroll process,” the PPL
spokesperson said.

The lawsuit has also drawn the attention of federal prosecutors with the
consumer protection branch at the U.S. Department of Justice, who wrote a
statement to the court indicating they’re keeping an eye on the situation.

“Our much-needed reforms are putting an end to years of runaway
bureaucratic spending. This transition ensures that workers who submit
timecards in compliance with program rules will be paid,” Hochul
spokesperson Sam Spokony wrote in a statement.

“We’ve made great progress as hundreds of thousands of consumers have
access to services they rely on, and personal assistants are registered and
logging hours with PPL and receiving their first payments from PPL,” Health
Commissioner Jim McDonald claimed in a statement.
-- 

Laura Cardwell

Director of Operations & Events

CDPAANYS/CDANY

she/her/hers

(518) 813-9537 ext 1
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://cdpaanys.org/pipermail/cdpaanys_cdpaanys.org/attachments/20250414/53db44ff/attachment.htm>