ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Those who work for the state’s at-home care program, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), faced an October 1 deadline to submit a health assessment. Workers said they need more time to get those exams done.
CDPAP participants and their personal assistants rallied at West Capitol Park on Wednesday. This time they called on the Department of Health to delay the deadline for workers to complete their physical exams.
A Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) spokesperson said, Mobile Health and PPL have sent out communications – over the past six months – that reminded PAs of the deadline and outlined ways to complete the health assessment.
In a statement from PPL’s Vice President of Government Relations Patty Byrnes said : “The health and safety of participants in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program relies on ensuring all personal assistants complete the required annual health assessment. This safeguard, long required by New York state but inconsistently enforced in the past, is now being applied consistently under PPL to protect participants and strengthen the integrity of the program.”
Jose Hernandez has been enrolled in CDPAP for more than 20 years. He said emails and text messages were sent to workers and they were directed to a website but he said they still had questions.
“Everything is automated and it’s sad because this is personal care and it should have been personal and a personal relationship with a company that is administering it. Now we’re dealing with a call center that their employees don’t have the proper knowledge to give us,” said Hernandez.
Under his prior Fiscal Intermediary (FI), he said, they’d contact him directly and would tell him his personal assistants had physicals due. Hernandez would then work with his PAs to find a convenient time for them, and they’d get their health assessments done in a timely manner. But now, he said…
“This unfortunately wasn’t timely. They chose the date and everyone has to get it done by that date and that has caused a backlog and a difficult situation for people who are trying to get appointments and can’t,” said Hernandez.
He’s tried to help not only his personal assistants book appointments, but those of his friends.
“I have four PA’s of my own. None of mine have the check mark yet. And out of the nine PAs that I’ve been helping for three different consumers, only one has that check mark,” said Hernandez.
He said even for the PAs that have completed the assessments, it still said ‘pending’ in his portal.
“I have no idea if they’re going to be registered or their assessment is going to be approved come October 1st,” said Hernandez, “With our former FI’s, this was all taken care of.”
On Wednesday afternoon PPL and the DOH told me they are now requiring PAs to just schedule their health assessments by October 1, rather than complete it by that date. But those who rely on the program, like Jennifer Watson whose child is enrolled in the program, said they want a meaningful extension.
“I don’t mean some token extension and we’re back here next month, saying let’s do this again. We need a meaningful extension. Otherwise people will lose their care and people will lose their jobs,” said Watson, who is also the Executive Director at Southern Tier Independence Center – a former FI.
Hernandez said he wants consumer choice to come back to the program, like he had under his prior FI, Concepts of Independence.
“I had a relationship with their CEO. We had a consumer advisory committee. They listened to us,” said Hernandez. “I hope that the Department of Health and the governor reconsider this plan and hold PPL accountable…The governor needs to do better for people with disabilities.”
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