The payroll processing company that took over a popular state-funded home care program issued paychecks to a fraction of caregivers in its first two weeks of operation.
Public Partnerships LLC, a Georgia-based company that cuts paychecks and provides benefits to home care workers through the consumer-directed personal assistance program, became the state’s sole payroll processing company on April 1 as part of a contentious plan to reform the Medicaid-funded home care program. Since then, PPL has issued $120 million in paychecks to around 130,000 workers, according to data released by the company on Friday.
The figure represents around 80% of the 160,000 home care workers who completed the registration process as of Monday. However, there are 250,000 home care workers who have started, but not yet completed their registration with PPL. By that metric, just over half of workers trying to integrate into the new system have received their paychecks.
Workers who have started but not completed registration may be missing legal documents that allow them to get paid, according to Lacey Hautzinger, a spokeswoman for PPL. She added that paychecks are sent to workers who are fully registered by the Saturday before payday, but did not answer a question about how many workers completed enrollment by the most recent cutoff.
Marissa Crary, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, said the agency “will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure CDPAP consumers and workers receive the care and support they need.”
The state’s home care overhaul has been rife with challenges, including lagging enrollment in its new system and complaints about missing payments. Since last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul has pushed to consolidate the $11 billion consumer-directed personal assistance program in hopes of targeting fraud and reducing administrative costs by $1 billion each year. The move was met with organized opposition from payment processing companies and home care users, many of whom are elderly or have disabilities and feared the transition would eliminate their care.
The Hochul administration struggled to register all home care users and personal assistants in its new payment system by the legally mandated April 1 deadline, prompting individuals who use the program to bring a class-action lawsuit to delay the timeline for the consolidation. A judge ruled that the state had to delay its deadline until June 6, but could continue with its plan to allow PPL to start paying workers this month.
So far, payments are off to a rocky start. Around 70% of personal assistants did not receive a check on their first payday, according to a survey of 300 individuals conducted by Caring Majority, an advocacy group that represents people with disabilities, elderly individuals and caregivers. Among the people who did get paid, 72% said that their paycheck was incorrect.
“Many of the caregivers who have claimed to have not been paid or paid incorrectly have received education on the payroll schedule and timesheet requirements,” Hautzinger said in response to the survey. She added that surveys are often given before paychecks hit a caregiver’s account.
Hautzinger added that more than 2,000 staffers at PPL work in the customer service center to answer questions about payroll processing issues.
The payment challenges and current spending on workers’ wages indicate that the state is far behind on its transition, said Michael Kinnucan, health policy director at the think tank Fiscal Policy Institute.
PPL has issued $120 million in paychecks for the first two weeks of the program; a figure that, extended to a year, would total $3 billion – less than a third of what the state pays on the home care program now, he said. Considering that some people have left the program, the company’s bi-weekly costs should add up to around $260 million, Kinnucan said.
“They are paying a lot less than that,” he added, representing a “very large failure” to pay people.
