State lawmakers who lead health policy said they will explore legislative action when the budget is done to address ongoing problems with a $9 billion home care program, including pay issues that have caused disabled New Yorkers to lose care.

Challenges have afflicted the transition of the state's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program to management company Public Partnerships LLC since it started in January.

State Senate Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera said his office continues to hear from disabled or elderly people who have lost care after personal assistants left the program due to pay delays, lower wages or inadequate health care benefits offered by the new company.

"This entire thing is a bone-headed mistake and the governor owns it," Rivera told Spectrum News 1. "The decision to switch to one FI was an enormous mistake and it was something the administration and the governor insisted needed to be done…We’re talking about workers who aren’t sure they’re going to get paid, who had to leave their consumers. Consumers who don’t have access to care anymore because their PAs transitioned away."

Rivera, a Bronx Democrat, wants to explore legislative solutions before session ends to smooth over stubborn issues in the home care program. He carries a bill to create a state license for fiscal intermediaries and standards to address prevalent waste, fraud and abuse.

"I'm going to look at all sorts of options as soon as the budget is done," the senator said. "As soon as the budget wraps up, we'll have a lot to talk about."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have discussed issues with the transition, and a desire to intervene, for months.

State Assembly Health Commitee chair Amy Paulin said she is also open to legislative action, but added she's not sure what that would look like.

"There was a desire to see if the problems would persist or whether they were just growing pains or changing pains," said Paulin, a Democrat from Scarsdale. "And I think now we see there's still many problems, so I think we have to take some action."

Assembly lawmakers submitted a Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL, request to get the state Health Department's $9 billion contract with PPL announced last year. Paulin said she hopes it will provide insight into how the Legislature can step in to improve the program and prevent vulnerable New Yorkers from losing care.

The assemblywoman also wants to explore how the Legislature could help CDPAP workers have other options for health insurance.

"I think that anything that could potentially be a solution I'm open to," she said. "And that could be a solution."

The ongoing pay issues prompted the Legal Aid Society to file a lawsuit this week accusing PPLL of failing to pay several workers — forcing them to abandon New Yorkers who rely on home care to survive.

Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to defend the change that lawmakers voted for in last year's budget.

“Under the old CDPAP system, administrative waste among hundreds of FIs sparked a fiscal crisis that put home care at risk – so it would make no sense to go back to the old system," Hochul spokesperson Sam Spokony said in a statement Friday. "The new structure will protect CDPAP consumers and ensure the program is fiscally sustainable. The state’s new single FI issued over 165,000 paychecks for the latest weekly pay period, which means paychecks were issued to over 99% of fully registered personal assistants who submitted timesheets to the new FI before the pay period deadline. The state Department of Health is continuing to closely monitor the transition as part of this administration’s ongoing commitment to protecting home care, supporting workers and ensuring any questions or issues regarding the payroll process are addressed.”

Karen Elsberry relies on CDPAP for home care for herself and her daughter, Melissa, who is terminally ill with renal failure in rural Schoharie County. But her other daughter and son, who are personal assistants withi CDPAP, have had issues with glitches in the company's system to submit timesheets, or getting paid on time.

Elsberry told Spectrum News 1 her son has only received pay for one week of work since the company took over April 1, even though he has submitted his time cards to the company correctly, and on time.

The concerned mother recounted how he could not pay his rent this month — forcing him to look for other work, which will leave her daughter without a caretaker.

"He's gonna have to leave because the landlord and the bill collectors don't want to hear 'Oh, you have to wait because I didn't get paid,'" she said Friday.

The incident prompted Elsberry to file a complaint about PPL to the state Department of Labor.

She said her son and daughter have contacted the company for assistance with their payment problems, but have not received a call or email back.

"I called them even before transitions were completed and they still have yet to return that call," Elsberry said.

A spokesperson with PPL said the company processes all timecards that are submitted, and has more than 2,000 customer support staff handling calls to help CDPAP consumers and personal assistants accurately submit and approve their timesheets and access training and other resources.

"We offer a range of resources to help address any questions consumers or personal assistants may have about the process," according to a statement from PPL on Friday. "We recently launched a new comprehensive resources page with videos and how-to guides on topics such as understanding PPL’s systems, timekeeping, payroll & payment and benefits and HR...Besides our call center, which is open six days a week and has nine dedicated language lines available, we offer in-office appointments, hold daily webinars and information sessions and have 45 facilitator partners to assist stakeholders."

PPL said this week, the average wait time for callers was one minute, and the average time to receive a return call is under 10 minutes.

"All calls are answered or returned within 24 hours," according to the company. "We also offer other options for consumers and PAs wo have questions including our in-office appointments and daily webinars."

But not all lawmakers are on board with taking on the issue before session ends.

Assemblyman John McDonald, a practicing pharmacist, said his office continues to receive a handful complaints about pay delays or issues communicating with PPL as CDPAP workers learn the company's system and how to correctly track their hours.

But McDonald said most issues his office has heard about with the program have been corrected within a few days.

"I think we have to really size up what the issue is before we talk about what the bill is," he said. "Right now, the focus in most circumstances, we're able to address the individual's siutations by bridging the gap between PPL and the Health Department."

The Senate and Assembly have plans to conference this issue after the budget is adopted. If adopted as expected late next week, the Legislature will have just over a month of scheduled session remaining to take action.

When Hochul announced a tenative budget agreement earlier this week, state Budget Director Blake Washington said he remains cautiously optimistic about the amount of savings switching to PPL, and eradicating over 600 other fiscal intermediaries, will bring to New York.

The governor has said the change will save the state up to $500 million annually, but Washington on Monday would not specify how much savings will be reflected in the next spending plan — especially after over 60,000 program users switched to more expensive home care programs.

"The Deparmtent of Health, the ops team, have been putting untold numbers of bodies against that to make sure that transition works really smoothly and so we're optimistic that [the projected savings] will carry," Washington said.