Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) is seeking dismissal of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit over its administration of New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program (CDPAP), calling the case “an act of gross overreach” fueled by political motivations.
The DOJ alleged PPL engaged in fraud when acting as New York’s sole fiscal intermediary for CDPAP, and, through the suit, seeks permanent asset seizure, financial relief and the appointment of a receiver. However, PPL argues that the DOJ’s basis for the lawsuit and its request for a receiver is not only insufficient but fueled more by “political attacks” and “score settling” than facts.
“This case is an act of gross overreach by the federal government,” PPL counsel Philip J. O’Beirne wrote in the July 15 request for conference. “True to its promise to use lawfare against its political enemies, this Administration deploys the Department of Justice against New York and its contract partner PPL for executing a lawful state program that the Administration’s political allies opposed. These claims represent a dramatic misuse of the law, are fatally defective and should be dismissed.”
New York named the financial asset services firm PPL the official sole fiscal intermediary of CDPAP in 2024. CDPAP is a Medicaid program in New York that allows individuals who need assistance to hire and direct family members or other individuals as their caregivers, called personal assistants.
The DOJ claimed PPL operated a fraudulent scheme to generate millions in illicit profit, and that both PPL and New York officials misrepresented key facts to facilitate PPL’s transition to sole fiscal intermediary.
“PPL has a long history of rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in state Medicaid programs, including saving New York taxpayers more than $1 billion,” a PPL spokesperson said in a statement shared with Home Health Care News. “We have consistently been willing to work with federal and state officials to advance that shared goal. Rather than engage on the facts, the Department of Justice has filed a complaint built on false allegations and unsupported conclusions. It fails to state a viable legal claim against PPL and should be dismissed.”
Beyond the DOJ’s suit in June of this year, PPL also faced a class action lawsuit representing more than 200,000 personal assistants, in which caregivers sued PPL for alleged payroll and benefits violations. PPL reached a proposed $162 million settlement with about 200,000 CDPAP caregivers earlier this month, HHCN previously reported.