WA CARES Opt-Out Initiative Meets Signature Requirement

Let's Go WA has announced another citizens initiative has met the requirement for signatures and was turned into the Secretary of State's office for verification.

  Initiative 2124 would allow people to opt-out of long-term care tax

WA CARES was first proposed and passed by the WA state legislature in 2019. as an attempt to provide what the state claims would be affordable long-term care insurance.

Long-term care insurance is designed to provide coverage for elderly or retirement-age people who have potentially costly medical or care issues later in life.

However, the plan was declared insolvent from almost the beginning. The tax was supposed to begin on January 1st, 2022, but was delayed over numerous issues with the plan.  The legislature finally passed laws putting it into effect this summer. WA workers are paying $.58 cents for every $100 of income towards the plan.

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The maximum benefit for the plan is $36,200, which critics say is a drop in the bucket considering many long-term care requirements.  It also came under fire because the one and only opt-out period was too short.

    The initiative would allow anyone to opt-out at any time

The plan, which will not begin to offer benefits until 2026 because the revenue is not there yet, does not provide money for anyone who moves out of state, and many people who pay into the program will never be eligible to get benefits when they get older.

Let's Go WA representatives say they submitted nearly 425,000 signatures, and said this and their other initiatives are not a "republican" thing.  54% of those who signed the initiative identified themselves as independent or Democrat according to The Center Square.