Governor Hokell has rightly called the $9 billion home health program a “scam” and a blow to taxpayers, but now the politically powerful health care workers union, 1199 SEIU, is trying to turn her reform campaign into an even bigger waste of funds.
Hawkle called the state’s consumer-directed personal assistance program, which uses state funds to compensate family members who care for loved ones in their own homes, “one of the most abused programs in New York history.”
But Washington Post reporter Vaughn Golden reports that Section 1199 also contemplates unionizing family workers who provide care, which would essentially mean an even bigger hit to taxpayers.
Medicaid spending on the program has tripled over the past five years as CDPAP eligibility requirements, which were relaxed in 2015, increased enrollment from 20,000 to 250,000 and exposed the program to increased risk of abuse.
In 2020, the FBI busted a Brooklyn ring that was pocketing millions of dollars in state and federal Medicaid funds by manipulating care workers’ hours.
But Hokell’s office has not yet said whether the reforms, which would consolidate 700 payroll workers between Medicaid and caregivers into a single intermediary, will actually reduce costs.
More from the Post Editorial Board
Right: 1199 is putting heavy pressure on companies bidding to act as intermediaries to “advocate” for higher wages and benefits for caregivers, and helping these workers unionize.
The union is asking bidders to sign a memorandum of understanding, which was obtained by The Washington Post, stating that it and 1199 SEIU will “jointly advocate for sufficient funding to increase (caregivers’) wages and benefits” and “remain neutral on the issue of whether caregivers should join a union.”
And all bidders are likely to cave in. “The political establishment doesn’t mess with 1199 SEIU,” quips Bill Hammond, a health care industry expert at the Empire Center. “Any bidder who has any idea what they’re getting into when they enter into this contract will know what it means when (1199 SEIU) puts that piece of paper in front of them.”
Unionizing 200,000 caregivers would be a major victory for 1199, which already boasts 450,000 members.
But that would defeat the purpose of the program, which is to help families, not members, care for their loved ones.
And even if funding is increased so that “workers” can get higher wages and benefits, taxpayers won’t save a dime – quite the opposite.
The government may be hesitant to go against the unions, and Congress is very likely to go along with it.
But if Hawkle truly wanted to end the “scam” she laments and curb runaway costs, she would block this blatant power grab immediately.
