LWV: Long-term care is vital for the elderly and disabled. I-2124 would destroy it

Mary Coltrane and Cynthia Stewart of the League of Women Voters of Washington write in the Tacoma News Tribune:

The November election will be critical in many ways. One significant ballot issue is Initiative 2124, which would remove long-term care options for many people who can’t afford private insurance.

The League of Women Voters of Washington opposes I-2124 and urges voters to reject this initiative. The league supports the WA Cares Program because it will reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency for individuals and families.

A comprehensive, uniform and affordable set of health services includes long-term care. I-2124 would send us backward, where only people of means can afford long-term care insurance. It would widen the gender income gap, take women out of the workforce and increase medical debt for families with long-term care expenses.

Nearly 70% of the population will need long-term care at some point, but only about 3% have private coverage. Without long-term care coverage, women fill the gap for family members and friends as unpaid workers. One in four people — mostly women — are forced to scale back or quit their jobs to care for a loved one, exacerbating the labor shortage that is harming businesses. There are about 820,000 unpaid caregivers in Washington.

Mothers are often sandwiched between caring for children and aging parents and in-laws, and they will be hit hardest by I-2124. As a consequence, if there is no access to state long-term care benefits, more women will be forced to reduce their hours or leave their jobs altogether to support ill, injured or aging loved ones. This also lowers lifetime earnings for women.

Half of women over 25 report struggling financially; if an emergency occurred, they’d be wiped out. Seventy-five percent of us have less than $5,000 in savings. And women are typically charged more than men for private insurance coverage.

Furthermore, a “grey tsunami” is about to crash on our state. In just a few years, all Baby Boomers will be 65 or older. According to The National Council on Aging, 80% of households with older adults are in such a financially precarious position that they “would be unable to absorb a financial shock” to pay out of pocket for long-term care costs.

I-2124 is especially harmful to people with diabetes, cancer and other pre-existing conditions because private long-term care insurance companies won’t cover them. Forty percent of people who need long-term care support are under the age of 65 due to a serious accident, illness or disability.

Long-term care finance experts indicate that what may sound like a simple change in I-2124 — allowing people to opt out of our state’s long-term care insurance program — would actually bankrupt the program. This would eliminate care benefits from 3.9 million Washingtonians.

By dismantling our state’s public long-term care benefits, I-2124 will cost taxpayers more, not less, because shutting down our long-term care program will force more people to depend on taxpayer-funded Medicaid.

If I-2124 passes, it will harm Washingtonians by taking away benefits that will help cover the cost of care when they experience serious injury, illness or the limitations that can come with disease or aging. Washington doctors and nurses are telling us I-2124 will make health care even more expensive by jeopardizing the ability of millions of Washingtonians to access the care they need when they experience a disabling disease, illness, injury or the normal challenges that can come as we age.

When people can’t get the help they need managing medications, bathing, dressing and getting around safely, they often cycle in and out of the ER, instead of getting the support they need at home. Backers of the initiative know if voters find out the initiative’s true impact, they will reject it — which is why they filed a lawsuit to block information about its financial impacts from appearing on the ballot.

The League of Women Voters believes in transparency in government and politics and supports giving voters objective information about ballot issues they need to make informed decisions. Washington voters deserve to get the facts about how this measure will impact families and taxpayers — increasing our costs and taking away our choices when we experience the most physically, emotionally and financially stressful times of our lives.

Please reject I-2124 and protect Washington’s long-term care insurance for nearly 4 million people.