Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to close Quality Touch and other CDPAP Agencies, forcing you and your workers to use an out-of-state company with no experience here in New York, and no experience working in this program.
We are leading a campaign called the Alliance to Protect Home Care to fight this change. We are making progress, but if we are to win, and protect consumer directed personal assistance (CDPA) for you and the 250,000 people who rely on it, we need your help. Will you act to make sure that Quality Touch CDPAP Agency can continue our work with you and that CDPA remains a strong program older and disabled New Yorkers can rely on?
What is the Statewide Fiscal Intermediary?
If Governor Hochul gets her way, every CDPA Fiscal Intermediary (FI) in New York will be closed. Starting on October 1 - in less than two months - instead of using local, community based organizations like Quality Touch and other CDPAP Agencies, control of the entire program will be given to one single out-of-state corporation with no experience working here in New York.
This will create a monopoly. Much like you have no ability to hold the electric company accountable, you will have no ability to hold your FI accountable. Choice will be a thing of the past.
There is also no plan for how the 250,000 consumers and more than 300,000 personal assistants will move from several hundred agencies to one. In other states where the program is a fraction of the size of New York’s, this transition resulted in 10% or more of those using the program and those working in it falling through the cracks and going without services, paychecks, or more. In New York, that means a “best case scenario” would involve 25,000 consumers losing services, and 30,000 workers going an extended period without pay.
This is unacceptable.
The Governor needs to hear from you. Unless stopped, this WILL result in older and disabled New Yorkers losing their home care - and worse.
Here are four things you can do today to help #ProtectHomeCare:
Visit www.protecthomecare.org and send a letter to your elected officials.
Follow the Alliance to Protect Home Care on Facebook and Twitter and amplify our posts.
Set up a meeting with your legislators and ask them to publicly oppose the Statewide Fiscal Intermediary.
Share this letter with your friends and family and encourage them to take action