New York is facing yet another lawsuit alleging it rigged the bidding process for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move to overhaul a massive $9 billion homecare program.
The new filing alleges that powerful healthcare union 1199SEIU was in on the fix to help controversial firm Public Partnerships LLC secure the multi-million dollar contract to handle payment services for the rapidly expanding Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.
At least five lawsuits have so far been filed to try and unravel Hochul’s overhaul of the CDPAP, two of which have specifically alleging bid-rigging on the part of the governor’s administration.
Hochul and the state legislature, as part of the gov’s revamp of the allegedly fraud-ridden program, agreed to get rid of nearly 700 middlemen firms that acted as payroll agents between CDPAP caregivers and Medicaid in favor of one hand-picked contractor.
Critics, including the existing middlemen firms like Mark’s Homecare LLC — which filed the latest suit in Albany Supreme Court — have been crying foul about the process leading up Public Partnerships LLC being awarded the bid.
3 1199SEIU President George Gresham represents one of the most powerful unions in New York. Getty Images
According to the Dec. 6 lawsuit, 1199SEIU Vice President Rona Shapiro brazenly told some home care agencies on a Zoom call in June it knew that PPL would get the contract — despite the state Department of Health still supposedly accepting proposals for another two months.
“Ms. Shapiro stated that 1199SEIU had met with DOH representatives and learned that DOH would award the single, statewide FI contract to PPL,” lawyers for Mark’s Homecare LLC wrote in the filing.
The Post reported as early as April that PPL was being floated as a potential contractor during state budget negotiations.
The suit also alleges that the DOH provided 1199SEIU — one of New York’s most powerful unions — with a list of all the middlemen firms, called fiscal intermediaries.
3 Hochul and the state Legislature awarded the contract to Public Partnerships LLC. Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
The Post revealed in September that 1199SEIU had been reaching out to prospective bidders for the massive contract and asking them to vow to remain neutral to its attempts to unionize the nearly 250,000 CDPAP caregivers under the overhaul.
“We sought to talk with all potential bidders to express our interest in ensuring the program would remain able to serve consumers and workers would be fairly compensated,” an 1199SEIU spokesperson said Monday.
“We had no knowledge about which firm would be awarded the contract until the official announcement,” the rep added, calling the allegations in the most recent lawsuit “blatantly false.”
The spokesperson declined to provide a recording of the June meeting with Shapiro mentioned in the lawsuit.
No other details about the meeting were provided in the suit, but the filings do include an email showing the list of home care agency reps who were invited. None of them responded to inquiries from The Post.
3 Lumos sp – stock.adobe.com
A spokesperson for PPL didn’t reply to a request for comment Monday.
A Hochul spokesperson denied the allegations.
“The State Department of Health followed the standard procurement process based on the qualifying language approved by the State Legislature,” the rep said in a statement.
PPL is expected to begin transferring the nearly 250,000 people who receive care under CDPAP to its payment processing services on Jan. 6, 2025.
A PPL spokesperson told The Post earlier this month that the implementation of the new consolidated program is “on track.”
NY state got help from powerful union to rig the bidding for Gov. Hochul’s $9B home health aide program overhaul: suit
