On Monday, Federal Judge Frederic Block preliminarily approved a class action settlement in a case regarding New York’s controversial home care transition.
The case was filed by disabled people who use the Medicaid-funded Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, and organizations that represent them. They allege their due process rights were violated when the state tried to quickly have hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and their care aides transfer from 600 companies administering this program to only one company. Many consumers have reported issues with getting themselves and their workers switched over in time.
The lawsuit has been focused on ensuring disabled people who use this service do not lose it without first getting a letter and a hearing. Previous preliminary injunctions were centered around users not losing services during their transition. These injunctions have extended the deadlines to make the switch to the new provider several times, and the final deadline is now August 1.
As attorney for the plaintiffs Elizabeth Jois explains, if this settlement is approved, anyone who hasn’t been helped through these efforts will get an official letter and hearing under the law.
“So now [after the settlement] you get a notice telling you what's going to happen as a result [of not making the transition], and you can request a fair hearing. That won't happen until the court approves it," Jois said of the proposed settlement.
There will be a hearing on August 6 at 11 a.m. virtually for all members of the class to weigh in on if the judge should approve this settlement.
The court has narrowed down the class, in part because of the amount of people impacted. Those who can participate include consumers who received CDPAP in March before the original transition deadline and used services from their original provider after the original April 1 transition deadline, or were authorized for but could not use their CDPAP services in June, but didn’t switch to another home care program.
