Petition to Impeach Hochul Over CDPAP Gathers Hundreds of Signatures

A petition to impeach NY Gov. Kathy Hochul has garnered over 1,300 signatures, according to its change.org page on Tuesday afternoon.

The petition was drafted by home health care business owner Hershy Marton over Hochul’s outlawing agencies from providing health care to patients under the CDPAP (Consumer Directed Personal Assistance) program, instead directing all funds of the government-subsidized program to one private company, Public Partnerships LLC.

Around 600 agencies lost their businesses due to Hochul’s controversial decision, which took effect this month.

“We, the undersigned citizens of New York State and allies concerned with justice, transparency, and the wellbeing of vulnerable populations, call for the immediate resignation of Governor Kathy Hochul, and failing that, her impeachment, conviction, and removal from office by the New York State Legislature and Court of Appeals,” the petition read.

Marton charges Hochul with violating what he says are constitutional rights of the agencies, which had signed contracts under the State CDPAP program, as they were not compensated or given due process.

Marton spoke with Belaaz about the issue:

Is everything going to be handled exclusively by PPL?

Basically, but here are still about 40 to 42 facilitators working under the new setup, but they’re operating under PPL.

This move affected the frum community?

Definitely. Many frum companies were involved. A lot of insurance companies had partnerships under CDPAP, and now they’ve lost all of that business.

It’s unconstitutional; they effectively took away private businesses under the “takings clause” of the federal constitution — without compensation or due process. We had contracts with insurance companies to provide Medicaid services, and those were stripped away.

A federal judge got involved; what made him issue an injunction?

Thousands of consumers weren’t fully registered with the new company by the April 1 deadline. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction allowing us to continue providing services, but Hochul was not bothered by the potential disruption of health care that would have ensued without the judge’s ruling.

How does this affect existing CDPAP beneficiaries?

The Department of Health issued guidance stating that those who started registering with PPL must continue with the company and get paid by PPL.

But if they finish by April 30, they’ll be paid retroactively. The judge said that wasn’t enough, because too many would fall through the cracks. So the judge ordered that everyone who was being served under CDPAP before April 1 — and was being paid — must continue receiving services and be paid weekly.

However, DOH only allowed previous providers to continue if the patient hadn’t started registering with PPL and explicitly requested to keep their old provider. But 90–95% already started the new registration.

What was Hochul’s reasoning? Was there alleged abuse in the system?

She claimed it was about better oversight and saving administrative costs. During the budget, they projected a $500 million annual savings. But the Department of Health’s submission to CMS — the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — only projected $31 million in savings the first year, and $35 million the second.

Wait — they’re shaking up a $9 to $12 billion program over $34 million a year?

Exactly. It’s less than half a percent in projected savings, while disrupting services for over 250,000 consumers and over 300,000 personal assistants. And people are struggling. If you go online, people are posting how it takes hours to reach someone at PPL. People wait, request callbacks that never come. Vulnerable patients are stuck in registration for weeks.

Did you start a petition with others?

No, I started the petition myself and shared it around. Some other agencies helped spread it. I founded my company in January 2017. We’ve served hundreds of patients over eight years. We even went through the FI authorization process and were told we’d be receiving a five-year contract. Then a year later, Hochul eliminated the entire industry.

So now your former clients are calling?

Yes. We’re getting calls and emails all day. But all we can do is guide them on registering with PPL. We’re not allowed to serve them anymore.

Is there any path to impeachment for Hochul?

The Assembly would have to introduce articles of impeachment and vote on them. Then the full Senate and the New York Court of Appeals would have to convict with a two-thirds vote.

One last point — the way she passed the budget was problematic. The legislators technically voted on it, but she pressured them by bundling unrelated issues into the budget. Carl Heastie, the Assembly Speaker, also played a big role. And she removed oversight from the State Comptroller for this bid. She also set up the bid so only companies operating in other states were eligible. New York-only companies were excluded — PPL never operated here before.

So you’re saying the bid may have been rigged?

There was a lawsuit alleging that, but it didn’t go far. Still, a state assembly member tweeted during budget talks: “Who wants to bet $500 million that PPL wins the bid?”

Link To Petition