CDPAP (Consumer Directed Program) Changes

For some unknown reason the CDPAP ((Consumer Directed Program) has been a target of NYS for several years now. Why? We don't know, there is no logical reason for this. This program can provide aides for seniors living in communities where traditional Medicaid Managed Long Term Care agencies cannot locate agency home health aides for these needy seniors. The family and patient are in charge of hiring their own aides in this program. Medicaid directs the aide's pay through a fiscal intermediary agency. Typically these are home health agencies. These fiscal intermediaries are responsible for all the payroll requirements for the aides.

Prior to this year there were hundreds of fiscal intermediaries in the state. NYS then fired all of these agencies and hired only one - PPL. PPL is a for profit company owned by private equity firms DW Healthcare Partners and Linden Capital Partners. PPL has run this program in other states and in all cases have been a tal disaster.

Consumer Directed Action of NYS has done extensive investigation into PPL and it's got a pretty ugly history. In New Jersey, the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities (ABCD) released a report detailing the “egregious fiscal and operational failures” by PPL. And that is only one state who is not happy with PPL.

Below is a ABC news investigation on these on-going problems with the program.