How to Register with PPL for CDPAP: Documents and Submission Steps

To register with PPL for CDPAP, you and your personal assistant each complete a set of enrollment forms, submit them to Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) through the PPL@Home portal, by phone, or through an approved facilitator, and wait for PPL to verify the packet and match it to an active service authorization before any paid shifts begin.¹ PPL is New York’s sole statewide fiscal intermediary for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which means every consumer and every personal assistant has to be registered with PPL before work can be paid.

Before You Start: Eligibility and Authorization

Registering with PPL is a payroll and paperwork step. It does not decide whether you qualify for CDPAP or how many hours you’ll get. Eligibility is determined separately by your managed care plan or your local Department of Social Services, based on a Medicaid enrollment and an assessment of your need for help with activities of daily living.² You need a service authorization on file from that plan or agency before PPL will accept a timesheet for payment.³

You also need to decide who your personal assistant will be. Under CDPAP you pick the caregiver yourself, and it can be a friend or family member. It cannot be your spouse, your designated representative, or, if you are under 21, your parent.¹ The assistant doesn’t need a home health aide certification.

If you can’t direct your own care, you can name a designated representative to handle hiring, scheduling, and supervision on your behalf. The person you pick as your representative cannot also be your paid personal assistant, and cannot work for the fiscal intermediary.⁴

Consumer Documents You’ll Need

The consumer side of the packet is short but exact. Every signature line matters, and any blank field can bounce the submission back.

You’ll complete and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PPL, which lays out how the program works and who is responsible for what. If someone else is directing your care, you’ll also fill in a Designated Representative Form.⁵

You’ll also need a Physician’s Order, form DOH-4359 or a locally developed equivalent, signed by your doctor to certify that you medically need home care. The physician has to include their license number, and the date of your most recent examination has to be within 30 days of the date they sign the form.⁶ The physician confirms medical necessity only; your hours come from the separate assessment done by your plan or local DSS.

Personal Assistant Documents

Every personal assistant you plan to hire, including any backup caregivers, has to complete their own packet.⁵

Offer Letter, one for each consumer the assistant will work for.
Personal Assistant Agreement, which sets out the assistant’s obligations under the program.
USCIS Form I-9 for identity and work authorization. The assistant signs Section 1 on or before their first day of work, and the employer side (PPL, acting on the consumer’s behalf) has to examine acceptable documents and complete Section 2 within three business days. A U.S. passport by itself works, or a combination such as a driver’s license plus a Social Security card.⁷⁸
IRS Form W-4 for federal income tax withholding.
New York State Form IT-2104 for state withholding.
Payment Method Form to choose direct deposit or a pay card.
Health Assessment, completed before the assistant starts working and renewed every year.⁵

Before anything goes in, sit down with both packets and check that names match across every form, Social Security numbers are legible, and every signature line is signed and dated. Incomplete packets are the single biggest cause of delays.

Three Ways to Submit

PPL accepts registration three ways.

Online through PPL@Home at pplfirst.com/cdpap. You can upload scanned or photographed documents, fill in forms electronically, and e-sign where required.
By phone at 1-833-247-5346, where a team member will walk you through the registration.
Through an approved CDPAP facilitator, who can guide you in person. PPL publishes the list of approved facilitators on its website.⁹

If you upload online, make sure every file is categorized under the correct form type in the portal. A mislabeled upload can sit in the queue without ever being matched to your application. Save the confirmation or reference number you get after submission; you’ll need it if you call to check status.

What PPL Does With Your Packet

PPL reviews the submission to confirm that all required forms are complete, signatures are present, and the assistant’s identity documents are valid. PPL also runs the personal assistant against the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General’s exclusion list; anyone on that list cannot be paid through a Medicaid-funded program.¹⁰ If PPL finds something missing, they’ll contact you directly, and the review pauses until you fix it.

Once the assistant’s registration is fully processed and a valid service authorization from your plan or local DSS is on file, the assistant is cleared to start working. PPL’s system will not accept a timesheet for payment unless both pieces are in place.³ Any work done before both are confirmed will not be reimbursed. Check the “Authorizations” tab in the PPL@Home portal before your assistant begins care.

After You’re Registered

Registration opens the door, but a few things have to stay current for pay to keep flowing.

Federal law requires New York to use Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for personal care shifts. Under Section 12006 of the 21st Century Cures Act, each shift has to electronically capture the type of service, who received it, who provided it, the date, the location, and the start and end times.¹¹ PPL meets that requirement through the Time4Care mobile app, which the assistant uses to clock in at the start of each shift and clock out at the end, with the consumer approving the shift on the device or later through the portal. Location is captured only at clock-in and clock-out. Shifts entered manually after the fact are flagged as non-EVV compliant.¹² For anyone who can’t use the app, PPL runs a telephony line at 1-833-278-3959 for entering and approving hours by phone.¹³

The assistant’s health assessment has to be renewed once a year. If it lapses, the assistant’s ability to work and be paid through PPL can be interrupted.⁵

You also have to notify your managed care plan within five business days of any change in your medical condition, a hospitalization, or a change in your address or phone number, and tell PPL promptly about changes in your assistant’s employment status.⁴

Because you’re the common-law employer of your personal assistant, you’re also responsible for arranging backup coverage when your primary assistant is sick or on vacation.¹ Registering a second personal assistant during your initial enrollment, even one who only works occasionally, is the simplest way to avoid a coverage gap later. That backup goes through the same enrollment steps.

PPL Contact Information

If you get stuck during registration or afterward, PPL has several dedicated lines.¹³

General support: 1-833-247-5346
Telephony line for entering and approving hours: 1-833-278-3959
HR helpline: 1-833-746-8283
Email: nycdpap@pplfirst.com
Fax: 1-833-951-0828
Mailing address: 17 Plaza Drive, Latham, NY 12110

If you still need help after contacting PPL, the New York State Department of Health can be reached at 1-866-712-7197 if you’re enrolled in a managed care plan, or at 518-474-5888 if you work directly with a local Department of Social Services.¹

1
New York State Department of Health. Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP)
2
New York State Senate. New York Code SOS – Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program
3
PPL. NY CDPAP Resources and Payroll Information Guide
4
New York State Department of Health. Consumer/Designated Representative
5
PPL. NY Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP)
6
New York State Department of Health. DOH-4359 Physician’s Order for Personal Care/Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Services
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 – Employment Eligibility Verification
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
9
New York State Department of Health. New York State Department of Health Provides Update on Latest CDPAP Transition
10
Office of the Medicaid Inspector General. Medicaid Exclusions
11
Medicaid.gov. EVV Requirements in the 21st Century Cures Act
12
Public Partnerships. Time4Care Quick Guide
13
PPL. New York CDPAP Frequently Asked Questions