Federal Judge Issues TRO Pausing CDPAP Transition

Judge Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on March 31, 2025, stalling the consolidation of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), which was intended to be completed by April 1, 2025. Oral arguments will be heard on April 4, 2025.

The TRO was issued in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of six individuals and two independent living centers claiming, among other things, that the New York State Department of Health's (DOH) mandated transition to a single fiscal intermediary (FI), Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), has been plagued with technical challenges that have jeopardized their access to home health services and that DOH's failure to ensure their continued access to CDPAP services without notice and opportunity for a fair hearing to challenge the proposed termination or suspension was a violation of their due process rights under the Medicaid law.

The TRO is clear that there is to be no impact on the transitions that have been completed to date, meaning customers and caregivers who have already registered with PPL will be serviced by PPL. However, the TRO prohibits DOH from disallowing the nearly 600 FIs from providing services to those who have yet to register with PPL until a hearing is held to determine whether the transition deadline should be further delayed.

Holland & Knight will continue to monitor this case and other pending lawsuits that could eliminate or modify the new CDPAP framework.