Politico Pro: CDPAP workers scrambling to meet health exam deadline
Public Partnerships set an Oct. 1 deadline for personal assistants, but workers say they found out about the requirement too late.
Demonstrators at the outside a CDPAP hearing.Maya Kaufman/POLITICO
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By: Katelyn Cordero | 09/16/2025 05:06 PM EDT
ALBANY, New York — New York’s popular home care program for Medicaid beneficiaries is facing yet another hurdle as personal care assistants across the state struggle to meet an Oct. 1 deadline for health assessments required to keep their jobs.
Public Partnerships LLC, the company that handles the program’s administrative system, said the health screening requirement was relayed to aides when they registered earlier this year and follows state law.
“All Personal Assistants agreed to this requirement when they transitioned to PPL and must complete or submit proof of a valid health assessment by October 1, 2025,” PPL Vice President of Government Relations Patty Byrnes said in a statement to POLITICO. “PPL, together with Mobile Health, stands ready to help every PA meet this critical requirement through the various available pathways, including in-person appointments, telehealth, and the option to complete the assessment with their primary care providers.”
PPL contracted with Mobile Health to conduct free screenings for aides. A spokesperson for PPL said Mobile Health has expanded its operations to handle the last-minute rush to get a screening before the end of the month. PPL and the state Department of Health declined to share the number of workers in the program or how many have completed their health assessments.
Caregivers assert they were not notified of the deadline until recently and are struggling to secure appointments.
“I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to do the health assessment in time,” Sarah Notaro, a caregiver in Buffalo, told POLITICO. “I’m just afraid that I’m going to lose my job. I need the money for my rent, my groceries. I’m really scared.”
Notaro said she didn’t receive notice from PPL about the health assessment deadline until a week ago. She had a physical over the summer by her primary care physician, but was told by the patient that she provides care for that the exam must be done by Mobile Health. Notaro said she had two appointments with Mobile Health canceled, and that the only available appointments require an hour and a half drive.
According to PPL guidelines, Notaro should be able to submit her existing health assessment to Mobile Health, and it will be accepted if it meets all requirements. If the assessment is approved, the screening is valid for 12 months from when it was conducted.
Why this matters: Earlier this year, the state transitioned the popular home care program from roughly 600 fiscal intermediaries to one,triggering a contentious battlebetween the Hochul administration and the previous fiscal intermediaries, who sought to stop the change.
Advocates who lobbied against the switch have labeled it a failure of the Hochul administration, highlighting problems with the registration process that triggered a six-month delay to parts of the transition. The state agreed to the delay in a class-action settlementover the summer. Consumers filed the lawsuit over problems navigating PPL’s troubled administrative system.
Lawmakers who approved the transition of the program last year have done an about-face amid allegations against PPL of wage theft, mishandled payroll and technical issues with its systems. The company and the state have refuted the allegations and said any issues with the system are quickly addressed. At a recent hearing regarding the state’s handling of CDPAP, state senators said they are planning to push for greater transparency surrounding the transition.
State law requires an annual health assessment as a condition for employment in the program. The state Department of Health said caregivers were originally supposed to submit that information by April 1, but the agency delayed the deadline until Oct. 1 to give more time for workers to transition to the new administrative system.
The health agency and PPL said that caregivers have been aware of the health assessment requirement throughout the registration process. Buta recent surveyby Caring Majority, an advocacy group that lobbied against the program's transition, found that half of the roughly 200 workers they surveyed said they found out about the deadline within the last two weeks.
“The Department remains committed to protecting CDPAP workers and consumers and we are monitoring this process closely to ensure continuity of care for New Yorkers who rely on this program," Health Department spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva said in a statement to POLITICO.