New York’s embattled home care program faces a new setback after a federal judge delayed a key transition for the services until Friday.
The move temporarily prevents the state Department of Health from shuttering operations of more than 600 companies that process payments to personal caregivers through the Medicaid-funded program.
That program, called the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, was set to transition to use a single fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC., or PPL, starting April 1.
U.S. District Judge Frederic Block’s temporary restraining order postponing the changeover validated concerns from some lawmakers and home care advocates, who say the weeks-long push to shift to PPL has been chaotic and rushed. Without the pause, they feared, tens of thousands of patients stood to lose vital health services.
About 195,000 out of 250,000 consumers have started or finished the enrollment process, according to the state. Patients and caregivers initially had until Tuesday to register, but the Department of Health announced last week a “late registration window,” giving people until April 30 to sign up.
Gov. Kathy Hochul began pushing for the transition to a single payor or intermediary last year, citing skyrocketing costs for the state. PPL won the contract, which continues to draw fierce opposition from other companies.
