Supporting caregivers: How WA Cares addresses long-term care needs in Washington | Opinion

Roslyn Carter famously said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.”

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris promised, if elected, she would work to add a home care benefit to Medicare. But the incoming Trump Administration wants to gut federal agencies, threatening safety nets and benefits like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I’m incredibly proud and grateful to live in a state that is leading the way with support when we face the most physically, emotionally and financially challenging time of our lives.

Initiative 2124, one of a slew of ballot measures sponsored by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood that would have kneecapped Washington’s long-term care benefit program, was soundly rejected by Washington voters. This purposefully misleading initiative only increased confusion about a topic most people don’t like to think about at all – needing and paying for long-term care.

Family caregivers like me, and hundreds of organizations that advocate for seniors, disabled and people with pre-existing conditions and serious disease came together to defeat this repeal effort in disguise. But now we must focus on helping people understand why this benefit is going to be a gamechanger, and developing ideas for strengthening it in the years ahead.

The WA Cares program, the result of more than a decade of work by hundreds of stakeholders and consumer advocates, is a flexible, affordable benefit to tap into when we, or loved ones, need help with daily living activities due to challenges that can come with aging, serious injury, illness or disease. Nearly 4 million Washingtonians are currently enrolled, with benefits becoming available to those who experience a disabling event in just a year and a half.

Leading experts are saying WA Cares may be a model for addressing the mounting care crisis, fueled by the approaching “silver tsunami” of our aging population, a nationwide shortage of caregivers, and the reality that many families have little to no savings to pay for care, pushing them into debt and forcing them to drain life savings to quality for taxpayer-funded Medicaid. At least seven other states are poised to follow our lead and enact similar programs.

As the Washington CEO of Leading Age commented recently, “WA Cares isn’t perfect, just as the Medicaid program isn’t perfect, and it will need to be refined and improved just as Medicaid has been….. WA Cares is innovative. It’s one building block in the effort to create a sustainable approach to funding long-term care in the state of Washington. It won’t fix everything, but it will help, and helping is a good thing.”

One million Washingtonians are family caregivers, and it’s usually women who leave our jobs to care for loved ones. WA Cares benefits that can pay a family member to be your caregiver, hire a home care aide so you can keep working, or outfit your home with ramps, grab bars, mobility equipment and other supports will be a lifeline for working families.

Since its launch, WA Cares has been steadily improved, covering near-retirees and part-time workers, and adding portability so we can keep our benefits even if we move out of state someday. We can continue this work with lawmakers to make this good thing even better. Recommendations from our Long Term Support Services Commission include: tweaking the work requirement so that someone leaving and coming back into the workforce can more easily vest in full benefits, allowing anyone who opted out of the program to opt back in; and, incentivizing a supplemental long term care insurance market for those who want to build additional coverage.

Twelve years ago, in the prime of my life and career, my mother, a healthy 63-year-old recent Boeing retiree, suffered an unexpected stroke. I had no choice but to leave my career to take care of my mother. WA Cares wasn’t around to help my mom, but I’m sure glad it’s here now for me.

This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Supporting caregivers: How WA Cares addresses long-term care needs in Washington | Opinion."