Two state senators, Gustavo Rivera and James Skoufis, both Democrats, are pushing for more information regarding how the company Public Partnerships LLC was chosen as the single fiscal intermediary for New York state’s CDPAP program.
The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) is a state Medicaid program responsible for allowing individuals with disabilities to hire their own caregivers.
According to some advocates, the transition from hundreds of fiscal intermediaries to just one has been fraught with problems.
A recent legislative hearing on the issue has opened the door to questions regarding how PPL was selected by the state in the first place.
On Tuesday, a state appellate court examined a similar claim by a losing bidder in the case. The court rejected any claim of wrongdoing by the New York state Department of Health.
Hochul administration spokesman Sam Spokony said in an emailed statement:
“As Washington Republicans cut health care for millions of New Yorkers, State Senators Rivera and Skoufis are weirdly obsessed with attacking the Governor for her effective work to rescue CDPAP from a fiscal crisis, protect home care for the people who rely on it, and save hundreds of millions of dollars per year for taxpayers.
“Anyone trying to undermine our reforms should just admit they want to send CDPAP back to a system of hundreds of wasteful middlemen – including one who recently pled guilty to a $68 million fraud scheme – and put home care at risk for the New Yorkers it was meant to serve.”
Skoufis, who chairs the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, joined Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter to discuss the issue.
Capital Tonight spoke with Skoufis prior to the release of the ruling.