CDPAANYS STATEMENT ON DOH IMPLEMENTATION OF CDPA RATE CUTS

Last night, the Department of Health (DOH) put at extreme risk the only program created by disabled people, for disabled people – a program serving 70,000 people and employing over 100,000 others – that was created right here in New York.

Despite saying numbers they have been using since at least May were preliminary and hearing from agencies, consumers, workers, and others that their policy would bankrupt every FI within a year, DOH moved forward with a proposal slashing payment for overhead costs to as low as $0.34 per hour, a level of reimbursement that is unsustainable. DOH ignored a letter sent by 13 members of their own stakeholder workgroup, a letter that said these rates would be devastating. They ignored consumers, who protested for over three hours during the last meeting of the stakeholder workgroup pleading for a delay. DOH even ignored the Senate and Assembly Health chairs, who expressed grave concern that the Department was moving forward before they understood the fiscal underpinnings of the program.

CDPAANYS has offered alternative savings ideas and pointed out flaws in the assumptions made by DOH. They were ignored.

In putting out this ill-conceived policy based on bad data, DOH is putting in danger the well-being of the health and economy of New York in a misguided attempt to save money on the backs of seniors and people with disabilities, threatening both their independence and their lives. This is a disaster in the making. DOH knows this will cause FIs to close, leaving thousands of people without life sustaining services. It is up to the Department of Health to reconsider and stop this before actual harm occurs.