State lawmakers said Tuesday they won't back down from a legislative fight to address persistent issues with the transition of a $9 billion Medicaid home care program — even though Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated she's not open to compromise.

And a federal judge extended a preliminary injunction until June 20 to give people who rely on the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program for home care and their personal assistants more time to enroll with company Public Partnerships LLC, which took over April 1.

As the program's transition to one statewide fiscal intermediary, down from about 600, continues to face legal challenges, lawmakers introduced a bill to create a new class of smaller companies to assist PPL.

"We have to do something," Senate Health Committee chair Gustavo Rivera told Spectrum News 1.  "...This is a failed, failed transition. What doesn't make sense is to continue the failed transition and lying to the public about it, which is what the governor, commissioner of health and PPL are doing right now."

Thousands of workers and program recipients have not completed enrolling with PPL, and many workers say they have not gotten paid properly since the company took over.

A PPL spokesperson said the company researches all reports of inaccurate paychecks, contacts workers immediately and the vast majority of claims were due to incorrect timesheets.

"PPL is committed to helping all consumers and PAs understand and adhere to program rules when submitting timesheets for payment, with education and training available through various channels," the spokesperson said.

A growing number of Republicans and Democrats are pushing for reforms and a focus on regional support before session ends in mid-June, and said they frequently receive calls about CDPAP.

The new bipartisan bill would allow independent living centers that serve as subcontractors to PPL, or have operated since Jan. 1, 2024, to act as independent fiscal intermediaries. Two-thirds of senators have signed onto Rivera's other measure to license FIs, which unanimously advanced through the Health Committee on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Democrats in the chamber intend to do something this session, but haven't discussed the proposal as a conference.

"We will be looking at how it's not only being implemented, but if there's anything that we should or could do, we will certainly look at that," she told reporters.

Assembly Health Committee chair Amy Paulin said the Legislature expects to negotiate with the governor's office about the issue in the coming weeks. But she added the 150-member chamber will likely run out of time, and a deal may need to be included in an end-of-session omnibus bill, known in Albany as the "big ugly."

"If PPL continues to present so many problems for both PAs and for consumers, we're going to have to do something," she told Spectrum News 1. "Hopefully there will be the 'big ugly' at the end, maybe something will be in there if we can. The governor doesn't seem to recognize there's an issue, but the rest of us seem to."

A spokesperson with Gov. Hochul's office has defended PPL's current system and said the legislation would be akin to going backwards.

“The governor is deeply committed to addressing the needs of disabled and vulnerable New Yorkers," Hochul's spokesperson Sam Spokony said in a statement. "That’s why we'll continue protecting CDPAP for the people who need it — not the unethical middlemen who profited off the old system for far too long. The old system left vulnerable home care users at risk of a fiscal crisis because administrative middlemen spent the past 10 years building their own profits while wasting and abusing taxpayer funds. It simply makes no sense to bring back more middlemen after just two months of much-needed reform. The new structure will protect CDPAP consumers and ensure the program is fiscally sustainable – and the data shows that it's already being well managed. The state’s new single FI issued paychecks to over 99% of registered personal assistants who submitted timesheets before the latest pay period deadline.”

The judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the state Health Department and the New York Legal Assistance Group — which represents independent living centers in the suit filed in late March — to negotiate a new extension agreement.

"The bottom line here is that there are still many people who aren't enrolled with PPL, many PAs who aren't onboarded, and many PAs who aren't being paid correctly," said Elizabeth Jois, a supervising attorney with NYLAG. "We need the state to use all its resources to fix these issues."

A spokesperson with Hochul's office said the extension does not have any impact on the ongoing transition.

Earlier in the day, dozens of CDPAP users and workers held a rally in Albany recounting their paycheck struggles and loss of care since the transition took effect. Several lawmakers who approved the transition in the first place joined them, saying they voted in last year's budget to address fraud and abuse in the system, not break it.

Lindsay Miller, executive director of the New York Association on Independent Living Centers, said the 11 centers subcontracted with PPL to support CDPAP consumers staffed up expecting to serve 47,000 consumers of more than 210,000. The centers were staffed up expecting to serve more than 79,000 of program recipients by the end of the year.

Miller said PPL isn't telling consumers that independent living centers are available to help them, or doesn't refer consumers to other facilitators when they ask. Miller said several CDPAP users have told her a representative with PPL told them using a different facilitator wasn't necessary.

"The independent living centers are starting to look at laying off staff, unfortuantely, and many of these are trained staff are people with disabilities that have worked in the CDPAP program for decades and there's no work for them and no income coming in, so the independent living centers can't continue to support the staffing," she added.

A PPL spokesperson said the company honors the request of all CDPAP consumers who ask for a change.

"The consumer always has the option to choose their facilitator," according to PPL. "If a consumer requests a change in facilitator, PPL will honor their request and assign the consumer to that facilitator, which includes ILCs."