It’s easy to think it won’t happen to us — until it does.
For me, it was when my mother had an unexpected massive stroke. We were both caught totally unprepared.
I was shocked to learn that neither my mother’s expensive health insurance nor Medicare would cover expenses like home care, so I was suddenly quitting my job to become a full time caregiver for my mother.
That decision changed my life.
My story isn’t unique. There are currently more than 800,000 family caregivers in Washington, most of whom are women. We care for parents, siblings, friends and even our children.
For many of us, when we heard about WA Cares, our state’s long-term insurance program, we breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, a program existed that could help us as caregivers and, even one day, be there to help us when we need care.
But now, Initiative 2124, put on Washington’s ballot by a wealthy hedge fund manager, would destroy this program.
The initiative claims it’s about giving people a choice, but in reality, analysts predict that if I-2124 passes, it will cause a “death spiral,” bankrupting the WA Cares program entirely and stripping this safety net from caregivers.
For many Washingtonians, if Initiative 2124 passes, it will eliminate our only avenue to get long-term care coverage. Private long-term care insurance exists, but for middle and low-income families, it is simply financially out of reach. Private insurers routinely hike premiums by 50%, 100%, or even 300% without warning, and women are often charged up to 70% more because they live longer.
And that’s if you even qualify. About 57% of people over 50 have a pre-existing condition such as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure that could get them rejected from coverage outright.
Washington’s long-term care program has none of these restrictions.
In fact, WA Cares doesn’t just cover the cost of care, it can also pay family caregivers for their work. Had this program existed when my mom had her stroke, her benefits would have given me much needed peace of mind so I could focus more on my time with my mother and less on stress about our finances.
WA Cares benefits start at $36,500, and that number will rise with inflation. The backers of Initiative 2124 like to talk about this number as not being significant enough to help people. But to me, the idea that $36,500 isn’t a lot of money shows just how out of touch the people who want to cut this program are.
There’s no doubt in my mind that support from WA Cares would have changed the whole scope of our care journey. It would have helped us afford professional caregivers who could have connected us with other resources we desperately needed, as well as given me much needed rest. It would have covered home modifications and mobility equipment so my mother could be more self-sufficient, and helped us with things like meals and transportation to the many doctors appointments we needed to get to.
WA Cares isn’t meant to cover years of time in a nursing home. It’s meant to give people a vital leg to stand on when they are going through one of the most difficult periods in their lives.
Lawmakers are already upgrading the program as well. First, they extended coverage to near retirees and part-time workers. More recently, they’ve made the program portable, so Washingtonians who have paid into it can keep their benefits even if they move out of the state.
I know it’s not fun to think of the day when we’ll need long-term care, but the fact is, whether due to injury, illness, disease, or any other challenge that can happen at any age, most of us will find ourselves needing care someday.
I wish this program had been there for my mother when she needed it.
I’m voting no on I-2124 so one day, when you need it, it will be there for you.
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Christina Keys, of Vancouver, is an advocate for family caregivers, CEO and Founder of Keys for Caregiving.
Editor's note: To read a previous commentary in favor of Initiative 2124 by state Rep. Peter Abbarno, visit https://tinyurl.com/3vc8ayrc.
