WA Cares: A Godsend For Those With PreExisting Conditions
In a letter to the editor of the Seattle Times, Anthony Jones of Seattle writes:
“I consider myself a fit and healthy person. I’m an avid golfer, I cook healthy meals and I walk my dog several times a day. But when I was 19 years old, I was diagnosed with lupus. When my symptoms flare up, my joints are so inflamed and painful I’m incapable of basic daily living activities.
I found out that neither health insurance nor Medicare covers long-term care expenses like home-care aides, and that private for-profit long-term care insurance companies deny coverage for people with preexisting conditions. I was so glad to learn that Washington’s new state-backed long-term care benefit is going to be there when I need help.
But as it was pointed out in the article, Initiative 2124 would bankrupt Washington’s long-term care program, taking our care benefit away. Without WA Cares, people with preexisting conditions, women (who so often are the ones to leave their jobs to care for family members) and middle-income working families will have no option but to drain our life savings and sell our assets to qualify for Medicaid.
I hope Washingtonians will reject this misleading and wrongheaded initiative.”
