Initiative 2124 would make WA Cares insurance program tax optional

Opponents call the ballot measure “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” designed to destroy the program, since enough people dropping out could make it insolvent.

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Patricia Keys, 62, lived alone in Kent. Fiercely independent. Full of life. Then a stroke hit her with no warning. She fell on a hardwood floor, striking her head. Patricia would never walk again and lost her independence.

She moved in with her daughter Christina Keys in Vancouver, Washington. Christina had to leave her job and become a full-time caregiver. She took care of her mom for the next 10 years, until Patricia died in 2022 at 72.

Seventy percent of Washington’s residents will eventually face a similar experience, needing to take care of a relative — or being the family member who needs help — estimates Ben Veghte, director of the state’s Washington Cares long-term care insurance program. It’s an inevitable aspect of getting old, although some younger people can end up in the same situation after an accident.

https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2024/10/initiative-2124-would-make-wa-cares-insurance-program-tax-optional