New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s new plan pertaining to home health care has upset many likely voters from her own party, coming under fire after proposing significant cuts to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP).
According to a poll of 800 likely voters conducted by the Alliance to Protect Home Care, 76 percent of New Yorkers and 70 percent of likely Democratic voters in the state said they oppose Hochul’s planned changes to CDPAP.
The program allows elderly, sick and disabled New Yorkers to receive home care from workers at their own residences. While 250,000 residents rely on the program to live independently while still getting their health needs met, Hochul aims to shift the program’s operation to an out-of-state corporation.
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Under a new budget that would take effect on April 1, Hochul overhauled the program by lowering the number of “fiscal intermediaries” from 600 to one. These intermediaries are responsible for administrative tasks in running the program.
Critics say this could end up forcing thousands of New Yorkers into nursing homes. At the moment, more than 30 lawmakers have signed a letter to the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, seeking a delay on proceeding with the plan.
Newsweek reached out to Hochul’s office for comment via email on Thursday.
“CDPAP is an important program that empowers New Yorkers to choose their own care at home,” Hochul’s office told WROC Rochester previously. “We’re committed to protecting home care patients, strengthening CDPAP and ensuring the program is sustainable. Our reforms will advance that goal by making sure taxpayer dollars are effectively serving the patients who need them.”
Hochul also earlier expressed concerns about the program being manipulated across the state, saying it was a “racket” and “one of the most abused programs in the State of New York.”
“The racket part, as I described, was really this middleman,” Hochul told New York news outlet THE CITY afterward. “What I simply looked at was the middleman, middlewoman, people in between who are absorbing dollars that I want to see go directly to these families that need our care. This is never about them getting less.”
Having a sole fiscal intermediary, Hochul’s administration has said, would likely slash the annual costs of CDPAP by $500 million.
The majority of New Yorkers who find Hochul’s plan problematic represent residents from across the political spectrum.
“As Gov. Hochul rushes to give away New York’s home care program to an out-of-state company, and potentially force thousands into hospitals or nursing homes, it’s become clear the governor has finally found something all New Yorkers can agree on,” an Alliance to Protect Home Care spokesperson told Newsweek. “Whether a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent, Gov. Hochul’s proposal is overwhelmingly unpopular.”
Alex Beene, financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, said CDPAP was popular with the public, so it’s no wonder the response to the planned cuts has been largely negative.
“This is a situation where Democrats are breaking with the Governor’s policy over genuine concerns,” Beene told Newsweek. “Support of it could come back to haunt them in future elections and with good reason. In the past, any restrictions on healthcare have been met negatively by voters.”
