What is CDPAP in New York, and who qualifies?

What is the CDPAP program?

New York Medicaid pays for help at home in two main forms. Personal care services (PCS) means an aide, sometimes called a home attendant, employed by a licensed home care agency. The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) means a personal assistant whom the consumer chooses, hires, trains, and supervises, with a fiscal intermediary handling payroll. The Department of Health’s comparison chart says the goals of both programs are the same, to help consumers stay independent and remain at home, but “the types of services that can be provided and who can provide these services are different.”

Neither program is better. They fit different households, and this page is about telling which is which.

Who qualifies for CDPAP?

The Department of Health’s CDPAP page lists five rules. To be eligible, a person must:

• be eligible for New York State Medicaid;
• have a stable medical condition;
• have a need for home care, found through a state-approved assessment;
• meet the Minimum Needs Requirements, if 21 or older; and
• be able to direct their own care, or have a designated representative who can decide for them.

Only the plan or the local district can decide this, after the assessment. This page cannot tell you whether you qualify.

How to apply for CDPAP in New York

1. Get Medicaid first. CDPAP is a Medicaid service. In New York City, Medicaid is HRA (1-888-692-6116).
2. Ask for CDPAP. If you are in a Managed Long Term Care or other Medicaid plan, ask the plan. If you are not in a plan, ask the local district; in New York City, that is HRA’s Home Care Services Program through the DSS OneNumber (718-557-1399).
3. Complete the assessment. The need for home care is set by a state-approved assessment, and the plan or district then authorizes the hours.
4. Register with PPL. Both you and your personal assistant register with PPL, the statewide fiscal intermediary.

The full walk-through is in how to apply for CDPAP in New York, step by step.

What is the same in both programs

• Both require Medicaid.
• Both require an assessment showing a need for help with daily activities. Since September 1, 2025, the Department’s Minimum Needs Requirements apply to adults 21 and over at initial assessment and reassessment. People already authorized as of that date continue under the previous criteria, which the Department calls Legacy Status. What happens when a Managed Long Term Care plan says a member no longer meets Minimum Needs is in MLTC Policy 26.01: involuntary disenrollment in New York.
• Both are authorized by the same decision-maker: a Managed Long Term Care plan for most adults, or the local district (in New York City, HRA’s Home Care Services Program) for people not in a plan. The number of hours comes from that authorization in both programs.

If someone needs help at home right away and nothing is in place yet, New York has an expedited path for both programs. It is explained in Immediate Need Medicaid home care.

What is different

Who the caregiver is

Under PCS, the agency selects, employs, trains, and supervises the aide, and the Department’s fact sheet notes the aide “may be terminated without your consent.” Under CDPAP, the consumer selects the assistant, who may be a friend or family member “as long as they are not the Medicaid member’s spouse, their designated representative or the parent of a CDPAP consumer under the age of 21.” The Department’s chart names a parent of an adult consumer, a son, daughter, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law as examples of allowed relatives, and its administrative directive (11 OHIP/ADM-6) also describes other adult relatives, including one who lives with the consumer when the care needs make that presence necessary.

Who the employer is

The Department’s fact sheet is blunt: “A PCA is employed by a home care agency. A PA is employed by you.” The consumer, or a designated representative, is responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, supervising, and if necessary terminating the assistant; arranging back-up coverage; coordinating other services; keeping payroll records; and working with the fiscal intermediary. A consumer who cannot direct their own care can have a designated representative, an adult who makes those decisions on the consumer’s behalf, but that person cannot also be the paid assistant. If that list sounds like a job, that is the honest picture: self-direction is a responsibility, not just a benefit. The Department also expects the consumer to hire enough assistants to cover the authorized hours; a 2026 policy asks plans to review cases where one assistant works very long weeks. See the excessive-hours review explained.

What tasks are allowed

A personal care aide works within the aide scope. The Department’s chart says a CDPAP assistant “is allowed to assist with taking health measurements such as temperature, pulse, blood pressure, sugar and glucose tests,” with “the self-administration of medications, and other services described as skilled nursing services,” under the consumer’s direction. For someone whose needs include those tasks, this difference can be the deciding one.

Training and health checks

Agency aides must complete training (minimum 40 hours) and competency evaluations. CDPAP assistants are trained by the consumer. Both must meet health requirements; Department guidance requires that each assistant’s health status be assessed before service delivery.

The statewide fiscal intermediary

In PCS the agency pays the aide. In CDPAP, the Department of Health designates Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) as the single statewide fiscal intermediary and states that all CDPAP recipients are required to work with PPL. It is named on this site only because the State designates it. The intermediary processes the assistant’s wages and benefits, handles tax and other withholdings, and keeps employment records. It does not decide who is eligible, how many hours are authorized, or the outcome of any appeal.

According to the Department’s “How to Register with PPL” guide, both the consumer and the assistant register with the intermediary: by phone at 1-833-247-5346 (TTY 1-833-204-9042), online through PPL@Home, through a community facilitator, or at an in-person session. The Department’s consumer packet says PPL’s phone lines are open Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, and lists in-person appointment offices in the Bronx, Brooklyn, New York (Manhattan), and Forest Hills. This site does not print street addresses because they change. Check health.ny.gov/cdpap for the current list. If PPL and your plan or district cannot fix a problem, the Department’s CDPAP page lists 1-866-712-7197 for people in a managed care plan and 518-474-5888 for people who are not.

For what the intermediary decides and does not decide, and what a family can still switch, read the fiscal intermediary explained. For the assistant’s own steps, from registration to the yearly health assessment, see how to become a CDPAP personal assistant.

Switching between the two

A family can move from an agency aide to CDPAP, or the other way. The Department’s chart and fact sheet both warn that a switch requires a new authorization, including a new person-centered service plan and plan of care, and that this must be handled before switching “to prevent a gap in care.” If the same person moves from agency employment to CDPAP, “your caregiver will switch employers,” which affects their pay rate, benefits, and schedule. Nothing on this page can tell you what those numbers will be.

Questions to ask before deciding

• Is there a specific person we trust who is available, allowed under the Department’s rule, and willing to be employed by us rather than by an agency?
• Does the person who needs care, or a designated representative who is not the assistant, have the capacity and time to schedule, supervise, approve timesheets, and find back-up when the assistant is sick?
• Do the tasks involved include medication assistance or health measurements that an agency aide may not perform?
• If the person is currently receiving agency care, how will the new authorization be timed so there is no gap?
• Who authorizes the hours, the plan or HRA, and what is their process for a change of service type?

What this site will not claim

• That anyone “qualifies.” Only the plan or the local district authorizes CDPAP, and only after an assessment.
• How many hours will be approved, or when.
• What the assistant will be paid.
• That any agency, intermediary, or facilitator is better than another.

Free help

NY Connects (1-800-342-9871) can sort out which program applies, on Medicaid or not. HIICAP (1-800-701-0501) offers free counseling; say your county. ICAN (1-844-614-8800, TTY 711) is New York’s ombudsprogram for people with Medicaid who need long term care. In New York City, Medicaid is HRA (1-888-692-6116) and fee-for-service home care runs through the DSS OneNumber (718-557-1399). Plan enrollment questions go to New York Medicaid Choice (1-800-505-5678).