Assemblyman Matt Slater (R,C-Yorktown) and his Assembly Minority Conference colleagues have called for a delay in the implementation of changes to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), advocating for a push of the deadline from April 1 to July 1. Despite these concerns, Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald announced yesterday that the state will proceed with the April 1 deadline, as approved by Democratic lawmakers last year.
“Rather than acknowledging the issues with this rollout and implementing a proper delay, they’ve simply added an asterisk to the deadline. While the official deadline remains April 1, they’ve now said that if you register by April 30, you won’t lose your pay for hours worked in April or your care. This is a blatant attempt to mask the problems with the transition, but they refuse to admit it because it would expose their incompetence. It’s par for the course for the Hochul administration,” Slater said.
CDPAP provides home care services to 280,000 elderly and disabled New Yorkers who are now required to register with a single statewide fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL). The transition period began on Jan. 6, 2025, and with so little time for a seamless transition, more than 100,000 consumers have yet to complete the registration process. To prevent widespread disruption, the Minority Conference has introduced legislation (S.6689) to extend the transition deadline, ensuring vulnerable New Yorkers do not lose access to their caregivers.
“Many families rely on CDPAP for essential care, but the state’s fumbled overhaul is jeopardizing the care of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and the employment of even more. We can’t bury our head in the sand while putting the care of our most vulnerable neighbors at risk,” Slater concluded.