New York State Department of Health officials appear to have been meeting with the company now in charge of the state’s home care program two weeks before the 2024-2025 budget was finalized, according to a new email uncovered by the Empire Center.
Earlier this year, the company's then-president told BTPM NPR in a live interview there were no communications with the state before the budget. However, that executive was copied on an email discussing meeting with the state on before the budget was announced.
The pre-budget discussions are notable, as that year's budget moved the state from allowing 600 companies to run its Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, to only one, Public Partnerships LCC, or PPL.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration has faced scrutiny over this change to the home care system, as well as questions around how the state selected PPL after a limited bid process.
Empire Center Senior Fellow Bill Hammond obtained the email from New York State's Medicaid Chief Operating Officer Amanda Lothrop via a Freedom of Information Act request. While portions of the April 4, 2024 email are redacted, the email reads:
"PPL Team, Thanks so much for taking time to connect. We look forward to continuing the discussion about your FMS experience and our NY considerations. Thanks, Amanda"
"Apparently [this] wasn't the first meeting," Hammond told BTPM NPR, adding, "'continued' meaning this wasn't their first discussion.”
The email appears to be for a WebEx, or video call, meeting link. Hammond points out in his report that "FMS is short for 'financial management services,' a term that includes the type of work PPL now provides for CDPAP under a five-year contract worth just over $1 billion."
Back in April 2025, a year after the email, BPTM NPR interviewed Maria Perrin, the then-president of PPL, about the ongoing transition to PPL running CDPAP.
"We've seen a lot of rumors and questions on social media and as we talk about PPL's relationship with New York State, I want to give you a chance to directly address a specific rumor and concern," BTPM NPR's Disability Reporter said. "Did PPL or your investors have any relationship, communications with or lobbying to New York State or anyone in state government prior to both the budget announcement and the bidding process?"
"No, we participated in the procurement just as everybody else did," Perrin said. "We put in a bid, once the procurement was released we put in a bid, like my understanding is over 100 other bidders and we were selected. When you think about our experience and the fact that we serve so many self-direction programs, it's not hard to rationalize why we were selected. So this was a fair procurement, it was, our information as we followed it, to the letter of the law by the state and by the procurement rules and we were selected. I think we offered a fair value in terms of fee, but also our experience went a long way in terms of being able to serve the community."
However, Perrin's email, mperrin@pplfirst.com, appears on the list of parties included in the April 4, 2025 email uncovered by the Empire Center.
In addition to Lothrop and Perrin, from the state and PPL respectively, several others were included on the email from both entities.
When contacted by BTPM NPR for comment on December 10, 2025, Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul, said regarding the DOH email:
“This obviously had nothing to do with the procurement process that was implemented by the Department of Health after being passed by the State Legislature," Spokony said. "New York State rescued CDPAP from a fiscal crisis, protected home care for the people who need it, and saved over $1 billion this year for taxpayers."
"Anyone trying to undermine our reforms should just admit they want to send CDPAP back to a system where of hundreds of middlemen – including one who recently pled guilty to a $68 million fraud scheme – lined their pockets with millions of dollars and put home care at risk for the New Yorkers it was meant to serve," Spokony added.
When reached by email on December 10, 2025 by BTPM NPR regarding the email and Perrin's claim during the April 2025 interview, PPL responded:
“PPL was selected to become the sole fiscal intermediary for New York’s CDPAP after a competitive, transparent procurement process thanks to our unmatched national experience and proven ability to deliver home health care solutions," said Patty Byrnes, PPL's Vice President of Government Relations in an emailed statement.
"Multiple court decisions have found no evidence of foul play or improper influence in the State’s selection process despite continued efforts to insinuate otherwise," Byrnes added. "We are on track to save New York taxpayers more than $1 billion with improved oversight and system controls, significantly lower administrative costs, and introduce new comprehensive benefits for caregivers. PPL is committed to strengthening the CDPAP program for the long-term and protecting the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers it serves.”
Perrin's claim PPL had no communications with the state prior to the budget wasn't the last time a PPL executive would make that claim. Byrnes testified under oath at a NY Senate hearing in August affirming the same, and then walked back that claim in a letter after.
"I now understand that my responses to lines of questioning by Senators Skoufis and Rhoads, who asked me whether there had been communications between DOH and PPL before the enactment of the budget, were not accurate," Byrnes said in a letter to the senators. "There were general communications with DOH staff (of which I was unaware at the time I testified) in late March and early April when NY was considering the possibility of moving to a single FI program."
Byrnes, however, does not appear to be included in the April 4, 2024 email that Perrin and other PPL officials were included on.
It was announced in July 2025 Perrin was “transitioning” out of her role at PPL to support other Medicaid-focused organizations.
