WASHINGTON, USA — Initiative 2124 is all about state long-term care insurance. The initiative would allow employees and self-employed workers to opt out of coverage under WA Cares.
WA Cares is paid for by a mandatory payroll tax and provides long term health services such as nursing home care and home health care to qualifying individuals.
Supporters of this initiative say that workers should have a choice to "opt out of the program", and may find long-term, private, care insurance to be better for them.
People against the initiative say that millions of working Washingtonians are counting on the fund to pay for their care in case of an injury, an illness or their age. Voting yes would mean repealing the program.
What is WA Cares?
The WA Cares program was created in 2019 when the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1087 with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans voting against it.
Employers were required to start deducting tax from paychecks starting July 1, 2023.
As of 2023, the tax rate was $0.58 per $100 of earnings. This means that an employee who earns $50,000 a year would be required to pay $290 per year, and an employee who earns $150,000 a year would be required to pay $870 per year. Benefits were capped at $36,500 per individual over their lifetime.
What would the initiative change about the long-term services (WA Cares) fund?
An individual who opts out of the WA Cares program would not be required to pay the payroll tax that is assessed on the employee's wages that funds the program. The Employee Security Department would be responsible for developing rules to implement the opt-in and opt-out processes.
As of 2024, anyone who is self-employed and who has opted into the program cannot opt out of the program unless they are no longer self-employed or are retired. The program also offered limited pathways for exemptions from paying into the program.
What are supporters and opponents saying about the initiative?
We Care for WA Cares campaign manager Jessica Gomez said, "Millions of working Washingtonians are counting on the WA Cares Fund to help pay for their care in case of injury, illness, or age. By effectively repealing WA Cares, this initiative would force workers to choose between depleting their savings to qualify for Medicaid, or betting on long-term care insurance only the wealthiest can afford."
State Rep. Jim Walsh (R), who sponsored the initiative, said, "I-2124 allows working people to opt out of the state’s insolvent ‘WA Cares’ long-term care benefit payroll tax scheme. For a short time, people could opt out of the scheme under certain circumstances. But now, under current state law, working people must pay into the program in the form of money taken out of their paychecks. ... I-2124 simply lets people opt out if they choose. It defends consumer choice. And encourages transparency in state programs. Partisans trying desperately to defend the policy argue that the opt-out option will make this bad program’s problems worse. Supporters of I-2124 argue that protecting consumer choice will force WA Cares to either improve the value it offers participants or admit that private long-term care insurance is a better deal."