NEW YORK — Public Partnerships LLC, the private equity-owned company that has managed payroll for New Jersey Medicaid programs serving people with disabilities, has a record of missed paychecks and worker lawsuits in New Jersey and other states, two financial watchdog groups said in a report released Nov. 10.
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund said the company, known as PPL, has been owned since 2022 by private equity firms DW Healthcare Partners and Linden Capital Partners. The report comes as a federal court considers final approval of a $162 million wage-and-hour settlement PPL agreed to in June over its takeover of New York’s home care program for nearly 200,000 aides.
PPL acts as a fiscal intermediary for self-directed Medicaid care, handling registration, payroll, time tracking and benefits for personal assistants in 18 states, according to the report. The company says it runs 50 programs affecting more than 700,000 Medicaid participants and their caregivers, the groups said.
In New Jersey, PPL took over fiscal management in June 2017 for the Department of Human Services’ Personal Preference Program and the Division of Developmental Disabilities’ Self-Directed Services, the report said.
Within its first year, Disability Rights New Jersey received more than 115 complaints from beneficiaries and families, according to the report. In August 2018 the advocacy group asked the Office of the State Comptroller to act, citing late and missing payments, enrollment delays, unresponsive customer service and a possible security breach involving consumers’ personal information, the report said. It did not say how those complaints were resolved.
The report also lists several pending and settled lawsuits in New Jersey’s federal and state courts. They include a May 2026 suit by home care workers alleging unpaid overtime and two disability discrimination and retaliation suits filed this year that remain pending. A 2025 discrimination suit settled in January for an undisclosed amount, according to the report. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The groups said New Jersey is one of four states, along with Washington, West Virginia and Tennessee, where PPL has lost or had a contract terminated. The report did not give details on the New Jersey contract.
Ryan Leitner, senior health care research coordinator at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, said: “PPL’s record should be a warning as private equity expands into the companies that states rely on to administer Medicaid.”
Hibba Meraay, a research analyst at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, said, “Public dollars meant for care are lining the pockets of corporate profiteers.”
The groups urged states to set enforceable quality standards for fiscal intermediaries, require public financial and performance reporting, avoid giving any single company sole control of a program and expand unionization among home care workers. The report did not include a response from PPL.
This report is based on information from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.
Source: Americans for Financial Reform
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