Opinion: I-2124 restores choice, could rightly rid people of WA Cares

Date: Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Elizabeth New (Hovde) discusses how I-2124 could offer choice to workers and provide alternatives to the controversial WA Cares program.

Elizabeth New (Hovde) believes passage of I-2124 should motivate lawmakers to find real solutions for our graying population that aren’t built on the backs of workers, including low-income ones

Elizabeth New (Hovde)
Washington Policy Center

I was invited to write two opinion pieces about Initiative 2124 for The Seattle Times and The Spokesman-Review. Both were published this past weekend to offer readers different perspectives on a Nov. 5 ballot measure that would make a payroll tax and participation in the WA Cares program optional.

These guest columns highlight different things about the trouble with WA Cares and the value of I-2124, so if you are interested in the initiative and how it could impact workers, read them both here and here.

What is highlighted in each opinion piece is that WA Cares is harming low-income workers, that many workers are not going to see a monetary benefit even after years of paying into the fund — and even sometimes if they need long-term care — and that lawmakers who support WA Cares admit the program is broken. Still, they haven’t been able to fix the 2019 legislation that created WA Cares. That’s because WA Cares is misguided from start to finish.

Taxpayers should support safety nets for people in need. Luckily, they already do support a safety net for people in financial need of long-term care: Medicaid. But the safety net is being misused, causing headaches for state budget writers and bringing a high cost to taxpayers.

Passage of I-2124 should motivate lawmakers to find real solutions for our graying population that aren’t built on the backs of workers, including low-income ones. Priority-based budgeting, Medicaid reform, increased choice and awareness about long-term care are needed, not WA Cares.

Read Elizabeth New (Hovde) Citizen’s Guide to I-2124 here.

Elizabeth New (Hovde) is a policy analyst and director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.