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  • February 14, 2025
Republicans in New York are urging Congress to intervene in the troubled CDPAP transition

Republicans in New York are urging Congress to intervene in the troubled CDPAP transition

Supporters of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (seen here at an Oct. 1 advocacy day at the Capitol) have called on government officials to halt their proposed transition of the program to a single administrative company. Republicans in New York's Congress are now urging federal lawmakers to heed these calls.

Supporters of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (seen here at an Oct. 1 advocacy day at the Capitol) have called on government officials to halt their proposed transition of the program to a single administrative company. Republicans in New York’s Congress are now urging federal lawmakers to heed these calls.

Lori Van Buren/Times Union

ALBANY – Republicans in New York’s Congress are involved in the controversial realignment of a popular Medicaid program.

In a letter sent last week to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, eight New York GOP members argued that the state has dodged federal oversight and rushed to restructure Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.

That program has been plagued by waste and excessive spending that has driven up state costs, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Budget Department officials.

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A transition plan Hochul presented earlier this year is underway and, if successful, would shake up an entire industry of so-called “tax intermediaries,” companies that move between Medicaid and the more than 250,000 patients with long-term medical needs. use CDPAP to hire home health aides. A very lucrative state contract that will manage most of these patients through a single company was awarded in September to Georgia-based Public Partnerships LLC.

The process of awarding that contract has attacked by dismayed users of the CDPAP program and tax intermediaries who stand to lose their businesses. It has also experienced some bipartisan opposition, including from U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat who is running for governor in 2026.

Republicans urged Johnson and Jeffries to amend any upcoming federal spending bills to include a measure banning Medicaid reimbursement, which supports CDPAP’s long-term, complex restructuring — unless New York files paperwork with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and gets the green light from them. federal agency to move forward.

“Federal funding should only occur once (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) has provided the necessary oversight and validated the effectiveness of the changes,” the letter said. “We all agree that this plan has not been properly vetted by the federal government, and making such a significant change in New York would be unprecedented, irresponsible and unfair.”

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Hochul’s office said Friday that since there is no change to the program itself, there is no need to seek approval from CMS.

“The premise of this letter is completely false: No one is evading federal oversight because no authorization is required from CMS,” spokesman Sam Spokony said. “If these Republicans are concerned about runaway spending, they will stop protecting the hundreds of middlemen who have raked in billions in Medicaid-funded administrative costs, hurt New York taxpayers, and made CDPAP untenable for home health care users who need it to have.”

Last month, a home health care company that was passed over for the multibillion-dollar contract filed a lawsuit detailing allegations of bid rigging, a claim Hochul’s government has denied.

That lawsuit was filed by Freedom Care LLC, a home health care company that serves as a fiscal intermediary, against the Department of Health and the company Public Partnerships, alleging that the two worked together to undermine the public bidding process. Several other lawsuits seeking to delay the state’s transition plan are pending in state and federal court.

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The Department of Health has a long-standing relationship with Public Partnerships, with three contracts worth millions of dollars included as early as 2011 and through at least 2029 for a program to manage housing payments for people with traumatic brain injuries.

Hochul had previously said Public Partnerships will move its national headquarters to New York and is expected to create more than 1,200 jobs here. She said a “comprehensive transition process” is underway, including coordination with patients and providers using the program.