Drew Warshaw is running for State Comptroller because the office has a tremendous concentration of power and resources that must be wielded to protect and uplift all New Yorkers - including all those involved in, or beneficiaries of, the care economy.
New Yorkers are paying more and getting less – for housing, for utilities, for care – and no one is being held accountable. The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) crisis is a clear example. For decades, CDPAP gave hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities and older New Yorkers the power and dignity of hiring and directing their own caregivers, to live and age in place inside their homes rather than being warehoused in institutions. It worked precisely because it put people in charge of their own care. Now, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and caregivers are being failed, and the state’s response has been to deflect and avoid scrutiny.
The Comptroller’s office exists to step in at moments like this. It has the authority to audit, investigate, and compel transparency. Drew is running to use that authority – aggressively and independently – to make sure public dollars actually serve the people they are meant to serve.
CORE GOVERNING VALUES
Drew’s core belief is that our government should work for the New Yorkers who rely on it – not the corporations that profit from it.
Care Before Profit: That means putting care before profit, making decisions based on whether they improve people’s lives, and being willing to challenge powerful interests when they don’t.
Independence: The office of State Comptroller must take independence seriously. The Comptroller is one of the only statewide officials whose job is to hold others accountable. That only works if the office is willing to act. If the Governor or Legislature attempts to limit its oversight authority (as happened with the Public Partnership LLC, or PPL, contract), Drew will oppose those efforts publicly and work with partners in government and community-based organizations on the ground to protect that independence.
Transparency: Drew believes in transparency, in following the facts, and in saying clearly what is happening when systems fail. When something is not working – whether it’s a home care program, a utility system, or a state contract – the public deserves answers.
LIVING WITH INDEPENDENCE, WORKING WITH DIGNITY
Every New Yorker deserves to live and age with dignity in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by their community. Our home care system should be a lifeline that empowers older adults and people with disabilities to live on their own terms.
But Albany is turning its back on our families, abandoning New York’s responsibility to the people who built this state.
We need to invest in the workers who provide essential care, instead of selling out our system to Wall Street profiteers. While billionaire CEOs extract record profits, New York is suffering through one of the worst home care shortages in the country. It’s time we stop putting corporate greed over human need and start putting New York families first.
USING THE COMPTROLLER’S OFFICE TO CHAMPION THE CARING ECONOMY The State Comptroller has enormous power to make government work for New Yorkers. Too often, that power has gone unused. The result is what we are seeing today – rising costs, failing programs, and no accountability. The Comptroller should be a check on power, not a bystander. The current situation involving CDPAP is only the latest and most glaring example of a comptroller who has a habit of saying, “it’s not my job.” That is the opposite of leadership and, after 19 years of the same, it is time for a change.
- The CDPAP crisis is a clear example of what happens when public money flows into a private black box with no oversight. Drew will initiate a comprehensive audit of PPL’s finances, business controls, payroll systems, customer service performance, compliance record, and ownership structure. New Yorkers deserve to know where their money is going, whether fraud has actually been reduced, and why the promised savings appear to come from people losing access to care. This is exactly the kind of situation the Comptroller’s office exists to address.
But audits take time. That’s why the legislature must pass the Home Care Transparency Act, legislation that would require PPL to regularly and publicly report how CDPAP dollars are spent — quarterly and annually, covering finances, payroll, consumer access, and fraud prevention.
- At present, Managed Long-Term Care plans pocket up to $3 billion/year in profits and administrative fees meant for home care. As comptroller, Drew would audit the Managed Long-Term Care plans and other parts of the system where billions are being spent without clear outcomes beyond profits for corporations.
Investigations of waste, fraud and abuse should be used to identify and hold accountable corporations that profit off our care, not to punish the poorest New Yorkers.
HEALTHCARE FOR ALL
Drew’s platform is grounded in the idea that care systems should work for the people who rely on them – not the companies that profit from them.
That’s why he supports the New York Health Act. Instead of forcing working families and small businesses to navigate a maze of plans, bills, and surprise fees, the New York Health Act delivers one simple system that works for everyone. While we wait for Medicare for All nationally, the New York Health Act would give us Medicare for All New Yorkers.
Drew also supports the Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act to eliminate insurance industry actors who profit from the care crisis.
SUPPORTING DIGNIFIED JOBS
Supporting dignified jobs means ensuring that public dollars are not being siphoned off into excessive fees and profits. When billions are being spent, we need to know how much is going to care and how much is being extracted.
This is about aligning the system with its purpose: allowing people to live independently with dignity and ensuring that the workers providing that care are treated fairly.
That’s also why we need to pass the Fair Pay for Home Care Act – to make home care jobs sustainable.
THE ROLE OF PRIVATE EQUITY AND FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES IN NEW YORK STATE CARE PROGRAMS
What we are seeing with CDPAP is a clear example of the risks of turning essential care programs over to private equity-backed, for-profit entities without meaningful oversight. The state handed an $11 billion-dollar contract to a single private company, with little transparency and no ongoing reporting requirements. One year later, at least 150,000 home care workers and tens of thousands of consumers have left the program. The claimed “savings” appear to come not from improved efficiency or reduced fraud, but from fewer people receiving care. That is not reform – that is a failure of accountability.
If for-profit companies are involved in public care programs, there must be strict oversight, transparency, and clear standards to ensure public dollars are actually reaching workers and consumers. Right now, that accountability is missing. The role of the Comptroller is to step in when that happens – to audit, investigate, and make sure these programs are working as intended.
FOCUSING ON THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & THE STATE OFFICE FOR THE AGING Drew would use performance audits to answer a simple question: are these agencies delivering care effectively to the people who need it?
- For the Department of Health, that includes evaluating major programs like CDPAP and Managed Long-Term Care – looking at access to services, timeliness of care, workforce stability, payment systems, and whether funds are reaching workers and consumers as intended.
- For the Office for the Aging, it means examining how well programs support older adults living independently – including access to home care, coordination of services, and whether gaps in care are forcing people into institutional settings unnecessarily.
Across both agencies, Drew would focus on outcomes, not just spending – are people getting care, are workers being paid fairly and on time, and are programs functioning as designed. If they are not, the public deserves clear findings and a path to fix them.
READ MORE: Drew Warshaw, “New Yorkers Deserve Answers on CDPAP. Albany Isn’t Giving Them Any,” March 18, 2026.
