NYLAG and Patterson attorneys appeared before Judge Frederic Block on Monday after filing a lawsuit to delay New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance (CDPAP) transition to a new fiscal intermediary, as the rollout errors and the initial deadline for an April 1 transition jeopardized tens of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries’ continued access to the home care they rely on to live their daily lives.
The judge granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) through Friday, April 4, when attorneys will again appear in court for a hearing on the preliminary injunction. New York Law Journal reported on the development:
The federal jurist found “good cause shown” from the subject class-action lawsuit, filed March 26 by the New York Legal Assistance Group and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, which alleges the transition is violative of the 14th Amendment and Medicaid Act.
The claim seeks to enjoin the state from phasing out of more than 600 fiscal intermediaries that perform human resources and payroll functions to ensure that program recipients’ in-home assistants are paid…
According to the lawsuit, there have been problems with state’s chosen vendor’s technology and systems. Also, informational, educational, and language barriers have made the process difficult to navigate for many CDPAP participants, the class action alleges.
NYLAG had issued a statement calling the transition “rushed and tumultuous,” and that its implementation would “devastate access to in-home care for people with disabilities and older adults who rely on CDPAP.”
Read the full piece published in New York Law Journal on April 1, 2025.
