Judge Issues TRO Pausing Data Transfer Under New CDPAP Framework

Nassau County Judge Jerome C. Murphy issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Jan. 27, 2025, preventing the New York State Department of Health (DOH) from moving forward with the consolidation of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), which is already underway and intended to be completed by April 1, 2025.
Pursuant to the CDPAP amendments Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law in April 2024, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), a Georgia-based company, is to be the state's single fiscal intermediary (FI) to manage the wages and benefits of personal assistants who work with chronically ill or physically disabled Medicaid beneficiaries. The move to a single FI would displace the nearly 700 middlemen currently serving approximately 246,000 consumers across the state. As part of the transition, existing FIs were required to transfer data related to their consumers by Jan. 15, 2025. The TRO halts this process until is hearing is held to determine whether DOH should be permanently enjoined from enforcing the data transfer or delaying the deadline and restricting DOH from taking any adverse action against the plaintiff FIs, including having them expelled from the Medicaid program, until DOH and the other defendants can "demonstrate procedural safeguards in place to protect the confidential, proprietary data and alleviate any concerns of violations of HIPAA" and other applicable privacy laws or regulations.
Although the TRO is in effect only until March 4, 2025, and applies only to the FIs that are parties to the lawsuit, the delay could impact DOH's target April 1 transition deadline. Holland & Knight will continue to monitor this case and other pending lawsuits that could eliminate or modify the new CDPAP framework.