In a dramatic interaction that went viral on social media, an elderly woman in a wheelchair confronted New York Governor Kathy Hochul over the Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) and criticized Hochul for transitioning to a hedge fund-owned company, PPL, as a cost-cutting measure.
For context, the NYC citizen pointed to an estimate from the Department of Health, which noted that 26,000–28,000 disabled individuals could lose essential services, referencing a 40% service loss in Pennsylvania.
Still not done, the irate woman accused Hochul of prioritizing corporate interests and cheap political soundbites over the needs of vulnerable New Yorkers, putting home care access and affordability at risk. Rounding out her diatribe, the woman demanded Hochul protect her voters from the loss of Medicaid and Medicare due to bureaucratic chokepoints and begged for genuine care over political rhetoric.
In any case, the angry woman began her comments by explaining the vital importance of this program. “CDPAP is very important to me, and the estimates out of the department, your own department of health, are that at least 26 to 28,000 people with disabilities are going to lose their services. That is what the Department of Health has said, and it’s the most conservative figure. So that’s 10%,” the New Yorker noted.
Building on this argument, she pointed to the horrible results from other states. Using an example from Pennsylvania, she noted, “PPL has had even worse [results] in Pennsylvania; it was up to 40% who lost their services. It is unacceptable.”
Pointing to the controversy, New York Democrats’ clear hypocrisy, the irate voter kept going.”You’re talking about affordability, and people that I know, that I love and myself, are at risk of losing our services and our home care workers brought everybody up to what they were making before you must make homeless, preserve seating, paths, and affordability,” she thundered.
Explaining exactly how Hochul let down her voters and who she really cares about, the woman declared, “It does not mean going to the people that you are paying to play with. You’re giving money to a company owned by a hedge fund, and you’re giving money to everybody.”
"*" indicates required fields
Building to a dramatic moment, she declared, “I want to see your care, your money, and the mouth go where the care is. I don’t want to hear sound bites anymore. I have not been lied to. I’ve been looking at the history with so the Department of Justice, the Department of Health, the Department of Health, your own department of health, their estimates are lying.”
Watch the clip here:
Closing out the angry interaction, the woman blasted Hochul, demanding a series of changes. She yelled, “You guarantee that we won’t get Medicare or Medicaid due to paperwork problems, due to problems with the computer interface. That’s exactly what is going to happen, because this transition for up to 270,000 New Yorkers is the only way that they are going to be. You didn’t have us at the table.”
Featured image from embedded video