Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that 24 home care providers have joined a statewide network being built by New York’s Health Department as it revamps it’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) — a Medicaid program providing essential home care services.
This latest follows Hochul’s recent announcement that Georgia-based Public Partnerships (PPL) will take over the state‘s CDPAP as the program’s lead partner. More partners will be added in the coming weeks before the initiative reaches full implementation by April 1.
“As we protect the long-term sustainability of CDPAP, utilizing the resources and experience of dozens of community-based partners will ensure we deliver the multilingual, culturally sensitive care that New Yorkers need,” Hochul said.
Traditionally, CDPAP has allowed individuals with long-term health needs to receive in-home care from a caregiver of their choice, often a family member or friend. Currently, more than 600 “fiscal intermediaries,” or home care agencies, manage tasks such as payroll, acting as a go-between for Medicaid and service providers.
Following the announcement of the state’s consolidation of CDPAP management and PPL as the choice for lead partner, a decision approved by the State Legislature in April, consumers, providers, and disability rights advocates have raised concerns about having a single statewide fiscal intermediary.
Opponents of the new partnership argue this shift could lead to job losses for local providers and disrupt essential services for CDPAP clients.
Hochul, however, says that CDPAP eligibility for home care users will remain unchanged, with no need for current recipients to reapply, and that the initiative aims to ensure timely caregiver payments and uninterrupted services.
With budget officials linking rising costs to potential fraud and abuse among numerous home care agencies, Hochul also told Bloomberg News that the home health aide program is being exploited, and the new initiative aims to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected.
The state’s Health Department has conditionally approved these additional partners for New York’s statewide CDPAP partnership:
• Access Supports for Living, Inc.
• AccessCNY, Inc.
• All Metro Health Care
• BestCare Inc.
• Burd Home Health, LLC
• Community Care Home Health Services
• Committed Home Care, Inc.
• Community Home Care Inc.
• Companion Care of Rochester
• Eagle Eye FV Inc
• ElderCare/At-Home Solutions/Health Care for All
• Hamaspik Homecare
• Heritage Christian Services, Inc.
• Horizon Home Care Services, Inc.
• Ideal Home Health, Inc.
• Independent Health Care Services, Inc
• Jawonio, Inc.
• NY Foundation for Senior Citizens
• People, Inc.
• Personal Touch Home Care of NY Inc
• Quality Family Care LLC
• Quality Touch Inc.
• Special Touch Home Care Services, Inc.
• Technology Professional Group Inc.
Collectively, the partners operate nearly 100 offices across all 62 counties in the state, with specialized home care experience focused on seniors and children with intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities, Hochul’s office said.
The partners bring experience providing home care to New Yorkers in dozens of languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Uzbek and Yiddish.
“PPL and our community-based partners bring coverage, choice and culturally-competent care options to those who rely on this vital program,” PPL Chief Executive Officer Vince Coppola said.
The governor announced a comprehensive transition process to protect home care users, including in-person and virtual meetings with CDPAP users, caregivers, and advocates, as well as ongoing reviews by state officials to ensure the needs of users and caregivers are addressed before the new partnership takes effect.
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