Important Update: New York Extends Home Care CDPAP Registration Deadlines Amid Consumer Complaints and Pending Litigation Over Transition to PPL

In follow-up to our previous blog post regarding the transition of the administration of Medicaid benefits through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) to Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), there have been several important updates that CDPAP consumers and caregivers should be aware of to ensure that their coverage and ability to receive compensation for providing home care services remain intact. 

Most notably, there has been a delay in the registration deadline for Medicaid recipients who still need to complete their transition to PPL, providing CDPAP recipients and caregivers with more time to register and ensure their coverage continues without interruption for the time being. Resources have also been published by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to assist CDPAP consumers and caregivers in completing the steps necessary to secure benefits coverage and payment to caregivers during the transition period.

The CDPAP Transition to PPL

As explained in our prior blog post, a key aspect of New York State’s $9 billion home care overhaul requires Medicaid recipients enrolled in CDPAP, which allows individuals covered by Medicaid to receive home care services provided by a caregiver (often a family member or friend) of their own choosing, to transition the management of their Medicaid benefits coverage from one of the 600 fiscal intermediaries previously operating throughout the state to one centralized fiscal intermediary, PPL.    

The original deadline for CDPAP consumers and their Personal Assistants (PAs) to register with PPL was set for April 1, 2025. However, many consumers and caregivers reported experiencing confusion and logistical challenges when attempting to complete the registration process, leading to fears that consumers’ ability to continue to receive their Medicaid benefits through CDPAP would be negatively impacted. With many Personal Assistant caregivers reporting an inability to log in to report their hours worked, many consumers also expressed concerns that their caregivers would leave if they were unable to get paid. As of April 9, 2025, about 32,000 CDPAP consumers had yet to complete their registration, and 36,000 caregivers had not been able to log their working hours with PPL. 

After mounting complaints from consumers and caregivers, and a legal challenge brought on behalf of CDPAP enrollees against the state which resulted in the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), significant changes have now been made to address these issues and ensure that all CDPAP enrollees can continue to receive care, and caregivers can continue to be paid, during what some have called a “tumultuous” transition period to PPL.  

Updated CDPAP Registration Deadlines and Procedures: What You Need to Know   

As a result of this litigation and an agreement reached between the plaintiff parties and the state, the deadline for CDPAP consumers and caregivers to complete their transition to PPL has been extended.   

• Consumers now have until May 15, 2025, to complete their registration with PPL, while their Personal Assistant caregivers have until June 6, 2025, to finish the onboarding process.  

• Under the newly agreed-upon transition plan, Personal Assistant caregivers who have not completed their onboarding process will have the option of using an "expedited" process or continuing to receive payment through their previous Fiscal Intermediary until they are fully registered with PPL. This aims to reduce the disruption of services for both consumers and caregivers during the transition.  

•  Further extensions of these deadlines are possible, if the transition process continues to be problematic for CDPAP enrollees and caregivers. If PPL is unable to register consumers and Personal Assistants in a timely manner, DOH has agreed not to oppose future extension requests. This provides an additional layer of protection for consumers and caregivers as they navigate the registration process.  

• DOH launched a Hotline on April 14, 2025 to assist CDPAP consumers or Personal Assistants who need assistance contacting PPL and/or their local social services district or managed care organization to complete these steps and facilitate their transition to PPL. The Hotline is available from Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm (except on holidays), and can be reached by calling 1-833-947-8666 or by emailing statewidefi@health.ny.gov.   

We recommend that anyone concerned about the transition to PPL who still requires help completing the registration process, or is having difficulty being paid for Personal Assistant caregiver services, contact the DOH Hotline using the information provided above. Additionally, there is a paper timesheet that can be used to log hours worked so that caregivers can be paid, which can be accessed here, and instructions for completing the timesheet are available here.

Moving Forward   

The extended deadlines provide a critical opportunity to ensure that all consumers and their caregivers are properly registered with PPL, and that payments are processed without further delay. While the delayed implementation of the state’s single Fiscal Intermediary transition may offer some relief, advocates for CDPAP home care consumers and Personal Assistants are continuing to monitor the situation closely.  

As the process for the mandatory transition to PPL for all CDPAP consumers and caregivers in New York continues to evolve, additional changes or extensions may be announced. Despite this delay, we encourage all CDPAP program participants, whether home care recipients or Personal Assistant caregivers, to promptly complete their registration for PPL if they have not done so already to ensure that their participation in CDPAP can continue without interruption during this transition process.     

Our Elder Law attorneys continue to monitor these updates, sharing them with our clients and on our blog as they develop. Please be sure to check back frequently as we report the latest news on the state’s CDPAP PPL transition. 

Questions

As always, our Elder Law attorneys are here to support you with any questions you may have. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. For more information regarding the CDPAP transition process, please visit our blog and the New York Department of Health’s website to learn the latest updates.