The transition from New York State Department of Health to a single fiscal intermediary for his self -directed home care program was made to another blow.
On Monday, a federal judge ordered a temporary entry order (TRO) and an injunction, which prevented the Ministry of Health prevented its revision of the personnel aid program (CDPAP) headed by consumers.
The arrangement prevents the Ministry of Health from being dismantled other fiscal intermediaries from participants who have not yet registered for a single fiscal intermediary in the selection of the Ministry of Health, an organization called Public Partnerships (PPL). CDPap participants who have already registered with PPL are not influenced according to court documents.
“The Tro is a victory for consumers and personal assistants who were almost ignored in the transitional process. Your concerns about the access and continuity of care are legitimate and must be taken seriously,” said Laura J. Ehrich, Vice President of Public Order at New York State Association of Health Care providers in an email. “The temporary stay is another indication that the transition to the individual FI was ruthlessly and frankly unrealistic.”
The injunction, Frederic Block, which was ordered by the High -Ranking Judge of the United States, calls on the Ministry of Health to show an occasion for the planned transition within four working days. Oral arguments are planned for April 4th.
An explanation of the Ministry of Health recognized the injunction, but stated that it does not stop the transition to a single fiscal intermediary and does not apply to the registered consumers or the associated workers.
“This is a limited order and for the vast majority of consumers and employees in the CDPAP program, nothing changes,” said Dr. James McDonald, Health Commissioner of New York, in an explanation. “For those who have not registered with PPL and would like to stay in CDPap, I ask you to turn to use the late registration window of the state and start this process today.”
According to Nili Yolin, partner at Holland & Knight Law Firm, it becomes unclear what will happen to the law.
“The law has come under fire from so many interest groups – obviously from FIS, but also from consumers, supervisors and managed care plans,” Yolin told HHCN in an e -mail. “In view of the missions, it seems to be a simple solution to delay the transition by September 30, 2025 (the date requested by the complainants), but most people want to know whether the entire consolidation is declared unconstitutional, and I simply have not predicted the crystal ball, although Soc Justice Sotomayor only applied for an application.
A controversial process
The injunction follows a high transitional process. According to Ehrich, the CDPap program was in “Chaos” before the judge was moved.
The Ministry of Health initially determined April 1, as a deadline for consumers and its workers, to register for the CDPAP program, but later extended the deadline by a monthly grace period. Legislators and advocacy organizations also resorted to the deadline on April 1.
The Ministry of Health was sued several times for CDPAP, also by a fiscal broker who says that the selection process was manipulated.
“The successful implementation of a change in this size was very unlikely in the permissible time frame,” Ehrrich told HHCN in an e -mail. “The time of time pressure is a lack of comprehensive guidelines of the Ministry of Health. The instructions that have been presented have raised serious legal issues as to how the dozen complains.”
Ehrich reported anecdotically that calls at PPL did not come back, people had difficulty having been able to get undernouncing or translation services, and call center representatives lack sufficient knowledge of the CDPAP program.
According to the Ministry of Health, the transition to a single fiscal broker was designed in such a way that they “carry out the out of the program and carry out the fraud and abuse. The agency quoted that a fraudulent system of 68 million US dollars had recently been discovered. In October, the US Ministry of Justice accused eight people to determine setbacks and bribes for social care and CDPAP -Home Care services that have decided on 68 million US dollars for Medicaid fraud of 68 million US dollars.
The New York governor Kathy Hochul previously referred to CDPap as the “club”.
About 195,000 consumers and over 220,000 personal assistants for CDPAP have started or completed the registration process, the Ministry of Health reported on Monday. The agency did not indicate how many of these groups had completely completed the registration process.
The Ministry of Health also emphasized that there were licensed Home Care Services agencies and fiscal intermediaries who deliver “wrong, deceptive or compulsive information about CDPAP and PCs options for consumers and employees”, WEAS and DESIST letters.
Ehrich believes that the controversy around the CDPap transition for the domestic care industry is harmful and could be largely avoided.
“A longer implementation period that enables a sensible input in stakeholders and more robust guidance of the Ministry of Health would have reduced the current controversy atmosphere,” she said. “Instead, the ongoing public attacks only make the transition more difficult.”
While the details of the transition continue to become morph, according to Ehrich, licensed domestic care agencies have recently experienced an increase in the fall loads when individuals leave CDPap.
“But they continue to fight chronic underfunding and the lack of investments that our industry have been plagued for over a decade,” she said. “We are in Albany and struggle to secure the financing that is necessary for the care that the state is necessary. The legislator has to remember that the number of people who need for care has not changed with the relocation to a single FI.”