State Urges Investigation Into Opponents of Hochul Home Care Plan Following New York Focus Reporting

nysfocus.com ^ | 2/11/25 | Chris Bragg

[AbolishCSEU]

he health commissioner has asked the state’s Attorney General and lobbyist watchdog to launch a ‘formal inquiry.’ Prompted by a New York Focus article last week, Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration is seeking investigations into the mysterious funding behind a $10 million campaign targeting the governor’s plan to remake New York’s home care industry.

As first reported by Gothamist, State Health Commissioner James McDonald sent a letter on Friday to Attorney General Letitia James and Sanford Berland, executive director of the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, urging a formal inquiry into “what appears to be a concerted effort to shield who is bankrolling a lobbying campaign to spread misinformation and lies” about the governor’s transition plan.

Hochul is facing fierce opposition to her overhaul of New York’s popular but pricey home care program, which allows people with chronic medical issues to choose their own caregivers and pay them through Medicaid. McDonald’s letter takes aim at one of the program’s most vocal critics — the Alliance to Protect Home Care.

[AbolishCSEU]

Hochul is unleashing Leticia James on her political opponents. Nothing to see here.

[Skwor]

The political power to destroy opposition is a powerful drug, one the typically leads to a very bad end by the wielder.

[mewzilla]

Meanwhile, remember what happened during CoupFlu...

In March of 2020, Trump had CMS relax its regs in order to allow residential care facilities the ability to refuse to take back sick residents from the hospital.

In May of 2020, Cuomo ordered them sent back anyway.

I don’t know of a single facility that refused.

Rumor had it that Albany threatened any facility that tried to refuse with regulatory and inspection payback.

Nobody has ever gotten to the bottom of why those facilities took back those sick patients.

Including Hochul.

[proxy_user]

Sheldon Silver would have settled this - by protecting the nursing home industry, and never letting the home care bill come to a vote.

[tlozo]

The Alliance is a social welfare nonprofit that spent $10.6 million last year — the second-biggest lobbying campaign of the year — on a public relations campaign alleging Hochul’s plan puts “lives at risk.” However, the source of that money is unclear: the Alliance’s donations are being routed through another nonprofit, created on the same day as the Alliance, called United CDPAP.

As a result, only United CDPAP — not the individual donors — appears in the Alliance’s lobbying disclosure reports.

The lack of disclosure could run afoul of state lobbying regulations, which prohibits the use of a pass-through entity to hide sources of funding.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

Why would you have wanted that? People that are taken care of at home get MUCH better care than they can get in a nursing home. And paying someone to do it is THOUSANDS CHEAPER than nursing home costs

[ridesthemiles]

ACTUALLY, this is not the only state where it is happening.

I have seen reference to such in other places & HERE IN NEVADA-—THE ADS never stop.

THEY WILL PAY A FAMILY MEMBER TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN FAMILY.!!!!!

IMO-—THAT IS JUST PLAIN THEFT.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Hochul's plan for the home health care industry: figure out how to skim more money from the funds targeted for home health care without being caught.

[proxy_user]

I’m just telling you what would have happened if Sheldon Silver still controlled the New York legislature.