New York State has begun the process of moving hundreds of thousands of consumers and their personal care aides from the hundreds of organizations that currently run the consumer directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP, to only one company, PPL, by April 1st. On today's episode, we hear from consumers who are concerned with the speed and transparency of the transition.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript provided by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi. I am Emyle Watkins, and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat.
PPL Customer Service: Hello?
Michelle Fridley: Hello.
PPL Customer Service: Can you hear me?
Michelle Fridley: Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me?
PPL Customer Service: Okay, I don't know what happened. I can now. Yes, good morning. I deeply apologize. I don't know why I didn't hear you at all, but I thank you.
PPL Customer Service: My name is ... Thank you for calling the PPL Partnership LLC and welcome to our Customer-Directed Personal Assistance Services. How can I help you today?
Michelle Fridley: Hi. So I'm a consumer, obviously in New York, and I have 24-hour care, and I am kind of really scared about this. Gosh, I have a lot of questions about how this is going to work.
Emyle Watkins: This call goes on for about 30 minutes. The representative from PPL, the new single contractor for the state's Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program, tries to begin the registration process for Michelle Fridley.
Fridley is a consumer, someone with a disability who hires personal care aides through the Medicaid-funded CDPAP program. The state is attempting to switch over hundreds of thousands of consumers and their personal care aides from the hundreds of organizations that currently run CDPAP to only one by April 1st. So far, consumers are concerned the process is happening too quickly.
Michelle Fridley: Now, I got to let you know I'm not trying to switch over like right now. I'm scared as hell. I don't even want to start the process until I absolutely have to, but I just have a lot of questions.
Emyle Watkins: Fridley asks how much her aides will get paid, if they can utilize overtime. Are there bonuses? She was looking for specifics. Those specifics matter.
Michelle Fridley: I got three, four girls that work overtime for me and without that overtime and with only one company, not being able to work for another company, they're literally going to have to switch careers. Like they're going to stop. They already let me know like if there's a wage change or if they don't... They need that overtime. And if they don't get that overtime, I'm going to lose them. So I need to know what are these wages-
Emyle Watkins: Fridley does not get a lot of answers in this call. PPL says they took note of her questions and would reach back out.
PPL Customer Service: You're more than welcome, Ms. Michelle. Thank you for calling.
Michelle Fridley: Thank you.
PPL Customer Service: Thank you for calling PPL, and you have a beautiful day.
Michelle Fridley: You, too.
Michelle Fridley: Bye-bye.
PPL Customer Service: Thank you, ma'am. Take care. Bye-bye.
Michelle Fridley: Oh Lord, that was terrible.
Emyle Watkins: Fridley's call recording was provided to WBFO by Caring Majority Rising, a political organization representing consumers who are concerned with the transition.
Fridley isn't alone. A lot of consumers are holding out on registering with PPL in hopes they can keep their current provider. Many are turning to social media or calling PPL with questions.
Larissa Martin: It sounded like a butt dial. Like they didn't realize that they had someone on the phone.
Emyle Watkins: Larissa Martin called PPL on the first day their phone lines open. While she got through right away, like Fridley, the call itself was a confusing experience.
Larissa Martin: And once they did, they realized like, "Oh, someone's on the phone, how can I help you?" And when I asked simple questions, simple questions that they should be able to answer, I got nothing.
Emyle Watkins: Martin has used CDPAP for over 17 years.
Larissa Martin: And without it, I honestly don't know how I'd function or be as independent as I am.
Emyle Watkins: She credits the current CDPAP system, which gives consumers a lot of control in who they hire and through which agency they hire those aides with helping her feel in control of her life.
Larissa Martin: I can't transfer so they help me with that. They help me with toileting. They help me with meal prep. I love to cook so they help me cook. They help me go to my doctor's appointments and everything like that. Every basic thing that everybody else takes for granted, they help me with.
And I think without that, without having that autonomy to choose who I want to work for me and be able to self-direct, I wouldn't be as vocal of an advocate if it wasn't for that.
Emyle Watkins: But Martin, like many other consumers, feels in the dark about the state's transition. The governor's State of the State Address earlier this month, which didn't mention home care, also didn't inspire confidence for her.
Larissa Martin: She kept saying, "Your families are my priority," or something to that effect. And if you are listening, Governor Hochul, which you're probably not, but my family, me, who's personally affected, who is disabled, you're not for me or my family or our community. And it showed in that address.
Emyle Watkins: PPL is holding listening sessions in Buffalo today and twice a week online in hopes of answering these questions. But some consumers, like Martin, want to see a pause in this process.
Larissa Martin: She can stop that. There are avenues she could go. She can halt, halt this process.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand, view a transcript in plain language description for every episode on our website at wbfo.org.
Emyle Watkins: I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
