Fraud in New York’s Caregiver Program
Baral Hossain exploited New York State’s caregiving program designed to assist sick mothers, enlisting over a dozen family members as caregivers. They were paid $348,000 over six years to care for an elderly woman residing in a Manhattan apartment. The twist? His actual mother was in Bangladesh the entire time.
Remarkably, Hossain managed to evade detection by having his younger brother pose as his ailing mother during inspections, but ultimately, he was caught and charged with grand larceny.
This case highlights the troubling realities of the Consumer Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), a program that’s reportedly draining millions from New York taxpayers due to fraud. Introduced in 1994 to reduce nursing home admissions for older adults, CDPAP has faced minimal oversight, lacking requirements for caregiver qualifications or medical certifications.
In fact, investigations revealed that around $179 million has been stolen by recipients over the past decade. Additionally, the program wastes over $1 billion annually on intermediaries. Bill Hammond, a senior fellow at the Empire Public Policy Center, noted that because caregivers work in patients’ homes, fraud can easily go unnoticed.
The program’s financial footprint has surged dramatically. Spending on CDPAP reached $2.5 billion in 2019 and continued to climb, claiming $9.1 billion in Medicaid funding by 2023, with around 250,000 individuals registered for assistance.
The state Department of Health recognized the financial crisis created by the program. In 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul acknowledged CDPAP as “one of the most abused programs in New York history,” pledging reforms. Yet, despite these intentions, the program has only expanded, now servicing over 280,000 patients, with costs escalating further.
By 2025, New York state spending on CDPAP skyrocketed to $12 billion, as reported by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Concerns about potential misuse were not unfounded. In several cases over the past six years, significant fraudulent activities were uncovered. For example, Zakia Khan was linked to a Medicaid scheme that defrauded funds from a Brooklyn-based adult day care center. Another individual, Marianna Levin, was sentenced for pilfering $100 million meant for home health workers.
In a separate incident, Farah Rubani, the former CEO of Hopeton Care, faced allegations of misappropriating $11 million in Medicaid funds to finance a luxury lifestyle, including expensive vacations and vehicles. Although she eventually agreed to pay restitution, she has never been criminally convicted.
Reports indicate that caregivers are sometimes overbilling for services, claiming to provide care during patients’ hospitalizations or even after their deaths. Some have manipulated the system to earn upwards of $200,000 annually by excessively billing for services.
Moreover, “facilitators” acting as intermediaries in the care system became a cause for concern. Recent settlements established that these entities were defrauding Medicaid while underpaying thousands of home health aides. By 2023, New York had paid over 600 intermediaries, with costs soaring between $500 million to $1 billion in that year alone.
To combat fraud and rising expenses, New York State replaced all intermediaries with a single entity, Public Partnership LLC (PPL), based in Georgia. However, the transition faced various challenges and legal disputes, delaying implementation until April 2025.
The Department of Health claims to have achieved significant cost savings through this consolidation, asserting that it curtails opportunities for fraud and waste. They emphasize their commitment to safeguarding Medicaid funds and enhancing accountability within the CDPAP program.
Despite the challenges, officials highlighted the recovery of more than $3.5 million in overpayments from 2019 to 2024, suggesting that efforts are underway to restore integrity to the program.
