Rep. Elise Stefanik is demanding the feds ramp up its probe into alleged Hochul administration bid-rigging on a $1 billion Medicaid homecare contract — after newly surfaced emails revealed state officials met with reps for the winner two weeks before bidding began.
Stefanik — an upstate Republican planning to challenge Democratic Gov. Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial race — sent a Dec. 9 letter to US Attorney General Pamela Bondi saying “recent bombshell allegations have surfaced” — including a April 4, 2024 email from the state Health Department’s Medicaid Chief Operating Officer Amanda Lothrop to top executives at Georgia-based Public Partnerships LLC.
In the email, obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request by government watchdog group Empire Center for Public Policy, Lothrop invites PPL reps to an online meeting with her and three other state officials.
“Thanks so much for taking time to connect,” Lothrop wrote. “We look forward to continuing the discussion about your FMS [financial management services] experience and our NY considerations.”
The email “provides further validation” that state officials met with PPL two weeks before the state Legislature authorized bidding to begin — and long before the company was tapped to manage payroll services for the popular $11 billion Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, the congresswoman wrote.
Stefanik also noted that state Sens. Jim Skoufis (D-Orange) and Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) have accused Hochul of retaliating against them for continuing a state probe into the contract, including Hochul vetoing several of Skoufis’ bills.
“As the [DOJ] continues its inquiry, I respectfully urge your office to ensure that this investigation proceeds with urgency and transparency and with the full weight of federal oversight,” Stefanik wrote.
“Given the magnitude of the funds involved, the vulnerable population served, and the disturbing pattern of alleged retaliation and opacity emerging from Governor Hochul’s office, New Yorkers and the American people deserve full accountability.”
The DOJ declined comment.
In October, a state appellate panel tossed a lawsuit brought by opponents of the consolidation contract who claimed it was awarded through a “sham bidding process,” and Hochul reps have repeatedly insisted the process was competitive.
“No matter what false claims anyone makes, here’s the bottom line: New York State rescued CDPAP from a fiscal crisis, protected home care for the people who need it, and saved $1 billion this year for taxpayers,” said Hochul spokesman Sam Spokony.
He also insisted the Lothrop email “obviously had nothing to do with the procurement process that was implemented by the Department of Health after being passed by the State Legislature.”
