By the Chronicle Editorial Board

The mandatory nature of the current WA Cares system has proven deeply flawed and inadequate for many Washingtonians, and voters now have the opportunity to fix the problem by voting “yes” on I-2124.

The importance of quality long-term care cannot be overemphasized. If you have ever cared for a loved one who needs ongoing help, you know how important it is to ensure they receive compassionate and reliable support.

Unfortunately, the federal long-term care program falls short of this goal because it provides limited services and excludes many of the people who pay for it.

The WA Cares program, which went into effect in 2019, was intended to provide security for Washington residents by bringing all workers into a single, state-run system. The program is funded by a mandatory payroll tax of 58 cents on every $100 earned and promised to cover long-term care benefits for those who paid in. In reality, WA Cares has fallen far short of what lawmakers promised.

In many cases, the program only provides benefits for three to four months, even though workers have been paying into the system for decades.

The program’s shortcomings became apparent almost immediately. In a 2019 advisory vote, 62.92% of Washington voters rejected the payroll tax used to fund WA Cares. Then, in 2020, voters again had the opportunity to have their say, this time on the funding structure that would make the program a reality. Once again they refused. Despite these two crucial votes, Democrats in the Legislature pushed for WA Cares, forcing the program into action even though it was already saddled with debt before it even began.

Gov. Jay Inslee delayed implementation of the program until July 2022, giving workers a short six-month window to opt out by purchasing private long-term care insurance. Not surprisingly, nearly 500,000 workers took advantage of this opportunity and opted out of the government program in favor of private insurance plans that better suited their needs.

However, once that window closed, no further exemptions were allowed, leaving many workers paying into a system that might never benefit them.

The federal long-term care program is not similar to Social Security or Medicare and does not come close to covering the average person’s long-term care costs. Millions of residents will pay into this fund their entire working lives and never see a dime, and the state relies on that fact to make this program work.

So why is WA Cares mandatory if it is such a great program? The answer is simple: the program is so flawed that it requires people who will never see the benefits to continue depositing. If a private insurance company tried to run the same program as WA Cares, it would be investigated for fraud by Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

I-2124 attempts to fix this broken system by making WA Cares a voluntary program. Rather than forcing all workers to pay into a program from which they may never benefit, I-2124 gives everyone the opportunity to opt out and seek other long-term care solutions that better meet their needs. This simple change would provide much-needed flexibility for Washington workers, especially those most disadvantaged by the current system.

WA Cares, for example, requires workers to pay into the system for at least ten years, without a break of five or more years, to be eligible for benefits. This requirement disproportionately impacts:

• Mothers taking time off work to raise their children

• Caregivers who give up work to care for aging parents

• Disabled workers who may not be able to meet the minimum annual working hours

• Medicaid recipients who are still required to pay into the program even though they are already eligible for other forms of assistance

These individuals must pay into a system that they may never benefit from, simply because they took time off to care for loved ones or because they faced personal health issues.

The financial calculus behind WA Cares is equally bleak. The average monthly cost of long-term care in Washington ranges from $7,500 to $14,000, depending on your care needs. With a maximum lifetime benefit of just $36,500, the program covers about five months of care at best, even though workers pay toward care throughout their working lives. This is hardly the comprehensive solution Washingtonians were promised.

There is bipartisan support for voting “yes” on I-2124 because people should not be forced into this program. When inflation is already straining coffers, a new, mismanaged, untested and fundamentally unfair government program is not the answer.

I-2124 offers a better solution by giving Washingtonians the freedom to choose. If you think the government program is right for you, you can stick with it. However, if you feel private insurance or another care option is a better fit, you should have the right to opt out. I-2124 offers this flexibility, providing a solution that takes into account employees’ individual needs and financial realities.

Vote “yes” to I-2124 this November. Give workers the freedom to choose their long-term care and let’s fix what’s broken. We agree. If you vote yes, you pay less!