Exclusive | Feds investigate Gov. Kathy Hochuls home care program reforms after chaotic rollout: source

ALBANY – Federal investigators are probing Gov.Kathy Hochul’s troubled consolidation of a popular $9 billion Medicaid homecare program, The Post has learned.The US Department of Justice has interviewed officials from Public Partnerships, LLC, the firm hand-picked by the state Department of Health to handle “middleman” payroll services for the consumer directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP.“They have been very active over the last couple months in investigating the transition and the various concerns that have been raised related to it,” a source who has had direct contact with investigators said.“They are devoting significant resources to the investigation with an eye towards potential criminal or civil actions at the conclusion of the investigation,” the source added, noting that the investigators on the case are career professionals from the agency’s consumer protection division.Hochul’s administration forced the nearly 280,000 people receiving care under CDPAP to re-register from their current payroll services firm or “fiscal intermediary” to PPL.

The change was ostensibly made to cut down on the waste, fraud and abuse stemming from under-regulation of the hundreds of firms that used to handle the payroll services for CDPAP home caregivers.A court stepped in at the last minute to try to alleviate an increasingly unrealistic April 1 deadline set by the DOH for the transition — with PPL massively backlogged and many home care aides in danger of going unpaid.Even with the injunction in place, caregivers are still reporting significant issues getting paid, even prompting legal action.Earlier this year, the DOJ’s Consumer Affairs Branch chimed in on a federal lawsuit saying it would keep an eye on the situation.The six-page “statement of interest” expressed concerns that the health department proceeded with the transition despite significant warning signs it would fail, made false statements about impacts on consumers�...