The $6 billion Medicaid long-term care program is being touted to young New Yorkers as an easy way to stay home and receive “government payments,” leading some to wonder if taxpayer money is being wasted. There are growing concerns about
In addition to ads on TV and on the subway, one viral video on TikTok highlights how you can take advantage of the state’s Consumer Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP).
Caption: “Caring for an elderly or disabled relative and not getting paid? What you need to know about CDPAP” TikTok videos To read.
The clip, posted by New York City-based content creator Erin McGough, has received more than 89,000 likes and been saved more than 26,000 times since being shared late last year. There is.
In it, McGough (who offers life advice in many of his videos) conducts a mock conversation with himself to reveal how a person can take advantage of the program.
When asked how work is going, the TikToker replied: “Oh, she actually quit her job to stay at home and take care of her mother. She’s quite old, so she doesn’t want to go into a nursing home. ”
When a friend says she wants to take care of her aging mother but can’t afford to quit her job, the content creator responds: I get paid by the government. ”
This clip details how the program run by Medicaid essentially allows people with disabilities or chronic illnesses to hire personal caregivers, including family members.
“I have no medical knowledge,” the TikToker said at one point, adding that programs vary by state.
Several commenters were quick to point out that certain programs are rife with scams.
“My mom did this. She was definitely just doing it for the money,” one viewer wrote.
“I work with clients. [sic] Caregivers are family members. There is so much fraud and financial abuse. [sic] There’s nothing we can do about it,” said another.
One TikTok user said, “My brother-in-law gets paid to take care of my father-in-law, but he doesn’t need care. Another waste of the budget by increasing taxes.”
Others joked that they would use the program to skip work.
“I’m thinking of calling my mom and telling her I need her to take care of me,” one person said.
Experts and industry representatives claim that CDPAP has become rife with fraud and abuse in recent years.
McGough was interviewed by the Post and was shocked to learn that the program could be a get-rich-quick scheme.
“The reaction was very positive. Some people complained that our tax dollars were being stolen from people who were trying to ‘game the system.’ Several others pointed out that you can only do something like this if your loved one is ‘poor enough,”’ she said in a statement.
“But overall, I think a lot of people were happy to learn about the program and looked into it themselves,” she says.
“The ‘sandwich’ generation is certainly struggling between young children and aging parents. Any help they can get when it comes to care will make a huge impact.”
