CDPAP fiscal intermediary in New York: what PPL does, what it does not, and what you can still switch

In the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), three parties share the work. The plan or the local district decides who is approved and for how many hours. The consumer, or their designated representative, picks and manages the personal assistant. The fiscal intermediary (FI) runs payroll, taxes, and employment records for that assistant.

Since April 1, 2025, New York has one fiscal intermediary for the whole state: Public Partnerships LLC, called PPL. The Department of Health says all CDPAP recipients "are required to work with PPL." So the old question, "how do I switch my FI," no longer has an answer. What you can still change is your facilitator, your personal assistants, your plan, and whether you use CDPAP or an agency aide. The rest of this page walks through each one.

The Department's regulation puts it in one line: the fiscal intermediary "is not responsible for fulfilling responsibilities of the consumer." PPL will not find you an assistant, set a schedule, or step in when one calls in sick. Those are the consumer's jobs, and the Department lists them plainly: "recruiting, hiring, training, supervising, and terminating personal assistants," arranging back-up coverage, keeping payroll records, and working with the FI to process payroll.

The Department's plain-language list is short: the FI processes "the personal assistant's wages and benefits," handles "income tax and other required wage withholdings," and keeps "the required employment records." The regulation adds the details behind that:

• Sets up and pays wages and benefits, and covers workers' compensation, disability, and unemployment insurance.
• Makes sure each assistant's health status is assessed before they start, and keeps the medical paperwork on file.
• Keeps a personnel file for each assistant, including timesheets.
• Keeps a copy of the plan's or district's authorization for each consumer.
• Runs the timekeeping system required by federal electronic visit verification (EVV) law, and collects the consumer's sign-off on hours worked.
• Watches whether the consumer or designated representative can still carry the consumer's responsibilities, and tells the plan or district if something changes.
• Collects feedback from consumers about the FI and its facilitators.

In practice that means the PPL@Home portal, a time-tracking app or phone line, weekly pay, and an annual health check for every assistant. PPL's own program pages say assistants' time is due Saturday night and consumers must approve hours by Sunday at noon Eastern. Hours that are not approved cannot be paid until they are.

This is where most confusion starts, so it gets its own list.

• Not eligibility, and not hours. The plan or district issues the authorization. PPL's public answers say it can only pay for the hours the consumer is authorized for. If you disagree with the number of hours, the appeal goes to the plan or district, never to PPL.
• Not who your assistant is. PPL states that "it is ultimately up to the consumer or designated representative to find and hire a PA."
• Not CDPAP versus agency care. PPL's own guidance says fiscal intermediaries "should not be instructing consumers on their service hours" and that the choice between CDPAP and personal care services "is up to the consumer" with the plan or district.
• Not appeals. When hours are cut and you request aid continuing, the district or plan sends PPL the authorization and PPL "will accept and recognize the validity" of it. If you win, PPL extends the authorization. If you lose, PPL end-dates it. The decision is made elsewhere. See aid continuing and fair hearings when hours are cut.

The 2024 state budget changed the law so the Department of Health must contract with a single statewide fiscal intermediary. The Department chose PPL. Its policy to plans says PPL is "the only entity authorized to provide fiscal intermediary services for the CDPAP," effective April 1, 2025. The older intermediaries had to stop at the end of March 31, 2025.

The rollout was messy, and a federal court case pushed the registration deadline. The class action settlement notice the Department posted says everyone had to complete registration with PPL by August 1, 2025, and that "this deadline will not be extended any further." The same notice says the case "did not challenge the New York State law that says that there can only be one Fiscal Intermediary."

Is that still true in September 2026? Yes, as far as every official page shows. The Department's CDPAP page, revised May 2026, still says all recipients are required to work with PPL. The regulation, updated November 2025, is written around one statewide FI and says a consumer "may not work with more than one fiscal intermediary at a time." The Department has published 2026 rates for PPL. A federal lawsuit filed in June 2026 concerns PPL's contract, but no official page reports any change to PPL's role. If that changes, the Department's CDPAP page is where it will show up first.

One caution that follows from this: any company telling you today that it can be "your fiscal intermediary" is not one. In 2025 the Department sent cease-and-desist letters to organizations that gave consumers false information about the transition. PPL's site also warns that only the facilitators listed on its page and the Department's form are approved.

Your facilitator

Facilitators are community organizations that work under contract with PPL. The Department describes them as help with "the enrollment process, including the completion of forms," and with EVV training and compliance. What they do not do is money: facilitators "are not responsible for billing, payroll, and benefits; that is managed exclusively by the SFI."

Using a facilitator is optional. PPL can be your facilitator. If you want to pick one or change one, the Department's Optional Facilitator Selection Form says to call PPL at 1-833-247-5346 (TTY 1-833-204-9042) or send the form to PPL by email, fax, or mail. A change "must be submitted by the 25th of the month for the upcoming month." PPL says pay and benefits for the assistant are the same no matter which facilitator you use, so there is no financial reason to pick one over another.

Your personal assistant

Hiring, replacing, and letting go of an assistant is the consumer's job, and it can happen any time. A new assistant registers with PPL, gets linked to your account, and must clear a health assessment before working. The rules on who may and may not be the assistant are covered in can a family member be a paid CDPAP personal assistant, and the steps for a new assistant are in how to become a CDPAP personal assistant in New York.

Your Managed Long Term Care plan

Changing plans does not change your FI, because there is only one. It does change who authorizes your hours. The Department's lock-in policy for partial capitation Managed Long Term Care plans, for people 21 and older with both Medicare and Medicaid, gives a 90-day grace period after each enrollment to switch for any reason. After that comes a nine-month lock-in unless you show "Good Cause," such as the plan failing to provide the care in your plan of care or your home care provider not having a contract with the plan. Requests go through New York Medicaid Choice's long term care line, 1-888-401-6582 (TTY 1-888-329-1541), and a denial carries fair hearing rights. How to choose or enroll in a plan is outside this page; the Department's Medicaid pages and New York Medicaid Choice are the official sources.

CDPAP or an agency aide

You can move from CDPAP to an agency personal care aide, or back. The Department's comparison chart is clear that this is not a paperwork swap: "I will need a new authorization for services, including a new Person-Centered Service Plan and plan of care." Arrange the new authorization before the switch so there is no gap. The tradeoffs are laid out in CDPAP vs PCS in New York.

When a consumer changes plans, the new plan sends its own CDPAP authorization to PPL. The Department's policy says plans "share member data and updated prior authorizations" with the intermediary. Your assessment, plan of care, and appeal file are plan records; ask the new plan for a copy of the plan of care with your hours, which the regulation says you are entitled to.

Your PPL account, your assistants' registrations, and their health assessments are PPL records. Because there is one intermediary, they do not need to be rebuilt when the plan changes. No official page says this in so many words; it follows from the structure, and PPL's own answer is that it "notifies the Medicaid health plan once consumers and their PAs register." The practical risk is timing. PPL can pay only authorized hours, and the Department told districts that an authorization can take up to six business days to appear in PPL@Home after it is entered. If a plan change or a renewal is coming, ask the plan when the new authorization will reach PPL.

The Department's CDPAP page gives an order to follow. First, PPL itself at 1-833-247-5346 (TTY 1-833-204-9042), Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, or your facilitator. Second, your plan's care manager or the local district. Third, the Department of Health at statewideFI@health.ny.gov; the Department's page and its consumer mailer list phone lines for this as well, and they differ between documents, so check the page for the current one.

For a problem that is really about hours, denials, or an appeal, ICAN is the free, independent place to call: 1-844-614-8800, TTY 711. It is New York's ombudsprogram for people with Medicaid who need long term care.

One more thing PPL's page says: registration calls come from 1-833-247-5346 or 1-833-204-9039, and PPL never needs bank or card details over the phone to register you. If a caller asks for those, hang up and call PPL back at the number on the Department's page.