Albany lawmakers are rejecting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s efforts to rein in a popular $6 billion Medicaid homecare program that critics say is extremely susceptible to abuse.
Legislators are going on the offensive after the release of their own budget proposals last week, calling the governor’s slated reforms to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, an attack on elderly and disabled people who rely on the program as an affordable means to get homecare.
“I’m terrified I’ll be forced into deadly and abusive facilities in light of the governor’s proposed draconian budget cuts to homecare, specifically the Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program,” Geri Mariano, 56, a recipient within the program said at a recent press conference hosted by the powerful healthcare union 1199 SEIU.
Geri Mariano, left in wheel chair, was one of several people who utilize home care aides paid for using CDPAP that spoke at a press conference criticizing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed cuts to the program. Mark Vergari/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK
“Honest to God, I don’t know why Governor Hochul hates me and all others wanting to remain in our homes with these programs,” Mariano continued.
The program allows relatives, friends or other