Hochul extends deadline to register under changes to home care program to April 30

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday extended by a month the deadline for New Yorkers and their care workers to reregister for a program that allows disabled and elderly people to choose their home care workers, who are paid by the state.

Hochul said the extension from the April 1 deadline is needed to counter "misinformation" spread through a TV ad campaign by opponents of her administrative changes to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, revisions that are aimed at addressing fraud and waste.

Recipients and care workers now have until April 30 to register under the new administration of CDPAP, which allows 280,000 disabled and elderly New Yorkers who qualify for Medicaid to be independent, live in their homes and avoid state-subsidized care at hospitals and nursing homes.

The workers, who are also called personal assistants, can be a friend or family member who isn’t the recipient’s spouse. They are paid to provide approved routine services that don’t require a health care license or certification, such as bathing, help in getting a patient in or out of a bed or chair, using the toilet, eating, and managing medications. Pay varies with the approved duties, but is typically about $23 per hour.

State officials said the new regulations will improve accountability to make sure the care that is charged for actually was performed. Hochul said the changes would save the state $1 billion a year.

Recipients and care workers now must register with a single company chosen by the Hochul administration to act as an "intermediary," which will pay the care workers and monitor care. The company, Georgia-based Public Partnerships LLC, known as PPL, is replacing 600 companies that have acted as intermediaries in the CDPAP program.

Hochul in a news conference blamed the delay on the companies that will no longer operate within CDPAP. She said they are "digging their heels in, refusing to turn over legally obligated information about who the patients are and who the caregivers are."

She and state Health Department officials blamed the opponents for spreading misleading statements and faulted news organizations for failing to dispel the claims.

The ad campaign over several months said the change directed by Hochul would hurt the disabled and elderly and result in lower compensation for care workers.

A lobbying group called The Alliance to Protect Home Care, which is funded by home care companies, opposes the move. The group has used stark images in TV and social media campaigns titled, "Don’t Let Big Business Hijack Our Home Care." In one spot, a woman in a wheelchair tells the viewer that Hochul’s plan "puts lives like mine at risk."

On Monday, the state Health Department said legal "cease-and-desist" letters were sent to some of the intermediaries, which could lead to lawsuits to force an end to "false, deceptive or coercive information" to consumers and care workers.

Opponents of the change, however, blame the Health Department for failing to promptly answer their questions about the transition, a claim the department disputes.

"The transition has been a nightmare," said Nicole Demme, of Marilla, outside of Buffalo, in an interview. She and her daughter are personal assistants to her son, Nathaniel, 21. "Even though I’ve done all the paperwork, I’m still waiting on them," Demme said of the state.

She was among the protestors in the state Capitol and outside the Health Department offices, chanting, "Delay PPL before people die."

On March 13, several Democratic state senators urged Hochul to delay implementation of her plan until June 1.

"Older adults and people with disabilities face a daunting maze of requirements to obtain home care from PPL," the senators stated. "These vulnerable New Yorkers are at risk by the needless rush to transition 280,000 consumers and 400,000 aides in less than 6 weeks."

State officials said nearly 165,000 recipients have started or completed the process since Jan. 6, the beginning of the enrollment period, and nearly 170,000 care providers have started or completed the registration.