Last week, parties to a federal lawsuit against New York State's Department of Health filed and a judge approved a preliminary injunction which will create new protections for consumers and their personal assistants who are transitioning to a new company running the state's home care program.
TRANSCRIPT
Emyle Watkins: Hi. I'm Emyle Watkins, and this is the Disabilities Beat. Last week, parties to a federal lawsuit against New York State's Department of Health filed and a judge approved a preliminary injunction which will create new protections for consumers and their personal assistants who are transitioning to a new company running the state's home care program.
Elizabeth Jois: Our case doesn't actually challenge that piece of the law. It doesn't. Our claims are about making sure that nobody loses services in this moment of transition, so nothing about our case is going to affect the overall change to a single statewide fiscal intermediary.
Emyle Watkins: Attorney Elizabeth Jois represents the plaintiffs in the case, who are consumers and organizations representing them. These consumers utilize the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP. The program allows people with disabilities to hire, train and self-direct personal assistants, who are paid using Medicaid dollars through a fiscal intermediary or FI.
Elizabeth Jois: The Consumer Directed Program is so vital, one, because of the services that are involved in it, but two, because it is directed by the people with disabilities. It is about them choosing the individuals who provide them this care, and I felt a lot of frustration in recent months that that same community is not getting that much attention during this transition.
Emyle Watkins: The transition was supposed to be complete by April 1st. The consumers report facing challenges and roadblocks. Of the roughly 250,000 disabled people originally enrolled in the program, the state health department reports that 40,000 still haven't fully transitioned their care. Those numbers do not include the multiple personal assistants that may be employed by each consumer.
Elizabeth Jois: Somebody should be listening to when the community is saying, "It's hard to get through," or, "This website is hard to use with certain disabilities. I really wish somebody was listening to that." There's been a lot of focus overall on business interests or the various players in this whole transition, and I think right now it's really time to move on to focus on the individuals with disabilities who are most affected by the program.
Emyle Watkins: While many consumers have expressed they don't want to see the state move to a single FI, Jois says their lawsuit isn't about that. It's about if disabled people are getting due process throughout the transition, especially if they may lose care due to not getting enrolled with the new fiscal intermediary, PPL, on time.
Elizabeth Jois: The specific claims we filed are about the process that is due to a Medicaid recipient before they can lose services, and that specifically is that they be given a very clear notice in the mail that tells them what is happening and gives them the opportunity to say, "I think it shouldn't be happening this way," in a fair hearing.
Emyle Watkins: The preliminary injunction means that some consumers and their personal assistants will now be able to stick with their original fiscal intermediary while the transition moves forward, to ensure there is no gap in care. All consumers will need to be onboarded with PPL by May 15th, and then personal assistants will need to be brought into the PPL system as employees no later than June 6th, unless an extension is provided by the court. Consumers will also now be divided into three groups, and two of those groups, made up of people who either haven't transitioned their care, or all of their personal assistants, can now contact their managed care organization or Department of Social Services to see if returning to their previous FI is an option until they have fully transitioned. A more detailed breakdown of this can be found on our website at btpm.org/disabilities.
Elizabeth Jois: Ideally, the best outcome of this case is that nobody needs a hearing because nobody is in danger of losing care. The best outcome would be that with enough time, and enough changes to whatever technological or practical logistical changes need to happen to make this transition actually seamless do occur, so that nobody's in danger of losing services.
Emyle Watkins: A spokesperson for the governor said in an emailed statement that the agreement will have, "No impact on hundreds of thousands of consumers and workers who have already completed registration with PPL. It provides a limited window for additional consumers and workers to complete their registration with PPL."
For more information on CDPAP and the transition, visit our website. We'll also have an exclusive live one-hour interview with PPL's president later this month on BTPM, NPR's Facebook, and BTPM's YouTube page. You can find out more on our website and how to submit your questions for PPL at btpm.org/dbliveppl.
You've been listening to the Disabilities Beat from Buffalo Toronto Public Media. You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand. View a transcript and plain-language description for every episode on our website at btpm.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
