State lawmakers are launching a public hearing to probe New York’s controversial $9 billion taxpayer-funded program that connects residents with home-health-care aides.
State Senate Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) and state Sen. James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley) said they will be calling on people to testify about the troubled Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP.
The program initially came fire for its alleged rampant abuse and waste involving the under-regulated middlemen companies that were connecting residents with aides as part of the state-funded Medicare initiative.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration then did away with the private go-betweens — but its awarding of the massive job to one firm in a no-bid contract only created more questions and outcry.
“We are going to lay out in clear terms how the transition worked, what didn’t work, how it happened and what are the things to learn to make sure that individuals being served by the program continue to be served,” Rivera said.
Rivera said “fallout is still being felt” from the governor’s consolidation move – noting that some workers have not been paid or have left the program, while patients have not been getting the care they need and others have ended back in nursing homes “or worse.”
The program has already come under scrutiny from the feds, who The Post reported earlier this month are probing the governor’s selection of Public Partnerships, LLC, as the sole “fiscal intermediary” for CDPAP.
Skoufis said how that contact was awarded will be part of the state hearing’s scope.
“We do have questions. We do have concerns,” he said. “I have significant concerns about just how this company was awarded the contract and were they awarded the contract fairly.”
Hochul administration rep Sam Spokony said in a statement, “New York State protected home care and prevented a fiscal crisis by putting an end to the waste, fraud and abuse of an old system.
“The vast majority of consumers and workers have reported a positive experience with the new statewide fiscal intermediary.”
The state lawmakers’ hearing on the issue will be held July 9.
