ALBANY — New York’s beleaguered reorganization of a popular home care program faces a new roadblock after a federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order that will block the state Department of Health from immediately ceasing to work with companies that have facilitated the services.
A judge in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn issued the ruling as a key deadline approaches for the controversial administrative transition of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which allows Medicaid recipients who are eligible for home care services to hire their own personal caregiver, including family members.
The restraining order prevents the state from forcing out the home care agencies that had acted as financial middlemen between the Medicaid-funded program and more than 250,000 people that use it. The plaintiffs and attorneys for the state are scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a conference…