Warning: Initiative 2124 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

By Jason Erskine, Communications Director for the AARP Washington.

Working Washingtonians, and especially those caring for loved ones who are sick or aging, should be on the lookout for a crucial vote this November. If passed, Initiative 2124 will increase costs for working people, including nurses, teachers and firefighters, by eliminating Washington’s long-term care insurance program.  

There are more than 820,000 family caregivers in Washington state. I-2124 will remove an important benefit that helps families care for loved ones and avoid going into personal debt. Family caregivers are the backbone of our long-term care system, helping with everything from buying groceries and managing medications to bathing and dressing. Caring for a family member or close friend is one of the most important roles we will likely play. However, caregiving’s emotional, physical and financial tolls can be profound.

This initiative would hurt people like Christina Keys of Vancouver, who was in the prime of her life when her healthy 63-year-old mother suffered an unexpected stroke. Keys was shocked to learn her mother’s expensive private health insurance would not cover expenses like home care, so she had no choice but to leave her career to take care of her mom. 

Washington state has taken steps to help families like hers, but if I-2124 passes, it will push Keys and millions of families like hers into more debt.

Most of us want to stay in our own homes and communities as we age or face challenges caring for ourselves and our families. Washington’s long-term care insurance program provides some important relief. For instance, funds can help pay family caregivers to offset lost income while providing care. Funds also can be used to hire home-care aides and pay for home safety modifications, meal delivery or assistive technology. If passed, I-2124 will strip away these critical supports.

Contrary to what some might think, Medicare does not pay for most long-term care. And, while Medicaid is often the payer of last resort, families must completely drain their savings and assets to qualify. No one wants that. 

Eliminating the state’s long-term care insurance program will throw us back into the expensive and broken insurance market, which routinely increases premiums by 50%, 100%, or even 300%. It would take away the only guaranteed long-term care coverage for people with cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other pre-existing conditions – about 57% of us over 50 – because they are denied long-term care insurance, even if they can afford the expensive premiums. And it hurts women who are discriminated against by private insurance companies, which charge women up to 70% more than men.

I-2124’s backers say their initiative helps people, but the truth is it will make things more expensive for women and working families.

AARP, the Washington State Nurses Association, labor unions representing home health care workers, doctors, grocery workers, teachers and organizations like the MS Society representing Washingtonians living with pre-existing conditions are all urging a “no” vote on I-2124.

Read the piece in The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business