Even for those with significant concerns about the state’s troubled transition of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, to a single fiscal intermediary, the involvement of the Trump administration in the matter raises alarm bells.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday alleging that the state Department of Health conducted a “sham bid process” in awarding the contract to private equity-backed company Public Partnerships LLC, or PPL. The lawsuit also alleges that state officials failed to take action to hold PPL accountable for problems during the transition. The lawsuit further accused the company of siphoning millions of dollars in Medicaid funding by generating “unauthorized profits.”
CDPAP allows Medicaid members in New York who are eligible for home care services to choose and hire their own personal caregiver, and as part of state budget negotiations in 2024, the Hochul administration transitioned the program from hundreds of fiscal intermediaries to a single fiscal intermediary to provide administrative services around that care.
Renee Christian is a community advocate with New York Caring Majority, an organization made up of people with disabilities, older adults and home care workers, and uses CDPAP. Christian, who has cerebral palsy, told Spectrum News 1 that she has lost 12 aides as a result of issues with the transition and currently only has two, when she needs up to 10.
“I’ve been receiving CDPAP for over 17 years,” she said. “Throughout this whole transition, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
That doesn’t mean she wants the Trump administration involved in bringing such a case, given that the move is being tied to a broader effort to rein in Medicaid spending.
“It highlights what all of the participants and workers have been saying, so it’s also kind of validating in what we know has been occurring — but it’s scary,” she said, a sentiment shared more broadly by Caring Majority NY.
Vice President JD Vance was in Nassau County on Wednesday for an event intended to spotlight the administration’s work around cracking down on fraud and abuse.
“Here is what the state Medicaid director in New York would do: facilitated fraud by using a sham bidding process,” he said. “You do not want your government facilitating fraud, you want your government fighting against fraud.”
Hochul’s Republican opponent, Bruce Blakeman, also appeared at the event.
Christian said that the administration’s broader rhetoric around Medicaid spending and the request to intervene in the administration of the program through the lawsuit has her concerned over what could come next.
“We know that the goal is not to help consumers, the goal is to cut services and cut programs,” she said. “Using terms like ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ to change things is always most harmful to the people impacted.”
Last year, the Democrat-led state Senate undertook its own investigation into the CDPAP transition, during which PPL acknowledged communicating with Department of Health officials before the contract was awarded, walking back previous testimony to the contrary given to senators.
State Sen. James Skoufis led the investigation as head of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee along with Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera. Like Christian, his opinions were mixed.
“PPL’s testimony to the State Senate — under oath — was false and their follow-up ‘correction’ was intentionally misleading. While I have grave concerns with the ability of Donald Trump’s DOJ to impartially prosecute this case, PPL and the Department of Health have a lot of answering to do,” he said in a statement.
Hochul this week brushed off the news, tying it to other legal action the Trump administration has taken against the state since the president began his second term last year.
“Another day, another lawsuit,” she said.
When asked by sister station NY1 whether she believed the lawsuit was unfounded, Hochul replied, “Absolutely,” and added that the state plans to fight it.
PPL and the Department of Health have also pushed back against the lawsuit.
“This baseless complaint is the latest attempt by Washington Republicans to score political points at the expense of vulnerable New Yorkers. It is inexcusable and completely lacking in merit,” said Cadence Acquaviva, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health. “The fact of the matter is this administration saved CDPAP from a fiscal crisis by removing hundreds of wasteful administrative middlemen. In the process, we reduced costs for state and federal taxpayers while protecting home care for those who need it.”
PPL argued that the process was fair, and that they have cooperated with state oversight while partnering with the Department of Health on carrying out the transition.
We strongly disagree with the characterizations in the complaint and will respond fully through the appropriate legal process. Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) was selected through a transparent, competitive process to strengthen and modernize New York’s CDPAP program, and we are proud of our work to deliver greater accountability, consistency, and support for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who rely on it,” a spokesperson said. “We remain committed to strong program oversight, financial accountability, and operational efficiency to ensure taxpayer dollars are managed responsibly while supporting high-quality, consumer-directed care.
Christian is urging that any investigation into the transition prioritize the needs of those who use the program.
“Both the state and the federal government are looking at this from a money perspective, not a people perspective,” she said. “All of these policies and these different things impact real people. I’m a real person with real support needs and a real impact in my community. I am very active in my community. I own a business of my own, I have a 13-year-old daughter. If cuts go through to my program, I will lose all of that.”