WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2021
CONTACT: Contact.Us@wecareforwacares.org
Media Resources
What’s at Stake in the Battle Over the WA Cares Fund, Who is Behind the Opposition, and What Can be Done to Fix Issues
Consumers Urge Attorney General to Investigate Insurance Industry Fraud
Washington State – Experts and consumers joined a media briefing (recorded link) today to explain why millions of Washingtonians need the WA Cares Fund, and why some special interests are trying to take it down.
The entire country is facing a long term care crisis. According to a recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in five Americans is receiving unpaid care from a family member or close friend. They need professional help at home from a paid nurse or home care aide — but they can’t afford it.
Washington State was first out of the gate to create a public benefit program to help folks who fall in the gap — the millions who can’t afford to pay privately for long term care or for high-end private insurance policies, but are not yet at poverty level where they are covered by taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits.
Advocates for Adult Family Homes, Hospice and Palliative Care, Huntingtons, and Alzheimers Associations were part of the large coalition of aging and disability advocates, businesses, long-term care providers, labor, consumer rights organizations, and families that supported the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program (now known as the WA Cares Fund) in 2019.
Dan Murphy, Executive Director, NW Regional Council Area Agencies on Aging explained the need for WA Cares:
“Most Washingtonians are financially unprepared to pay for care they’ll need when they get seriously ill, injured, or have Dementia, Cancer, Alzheimers or serious Diabetes. The WA Cares Fund is a public long-term care benefit designed to help people age in their homes, ease the economic stress on families, and protect the state budget from a Medicaid explosion.”
But now for-profit corporate insurance companies and conservative political interests who oppose taxes on the wealthy have launched a full scale attack to take away long term care from millions of Washingtonians with lawsuits and a ballot initiative (I-1463).
Madeleine Foutch, Legislative and Campaigns Director at SEIU 775, commented on the opposition to the program:
“The private insurance industry is trying to sow confusion about WA Cares in an attempt to profit off of people’s fears. Now Trump’s donors are jumping in, trying to leverage that confusion for their own political purposes. We’re confident the legislature will make the common sense fixes to the program and make long term care affordable and accessible to Washingtonians.”
Cathy MacCaul, Advocacy Director AARP Washington, shared recent polling showing that the majority of Washingtonians support the goals of WA Cares:
“Most voters would prefer to receive care at home instead of a nursing home if they or a loved one needed long-term care. However, voters appear unsure of exactly what will help them pay for long-term care stay. That’s where the WA Cares Fund comes in.”
Jess Gomez of SEIU 775 commented on the findings of the analysis:
“Private long term care insurance is hard to get, excludes people with pre-existing conditions, costs more for women than men, and has a track record of dropping plans and not delivering promised benefits to consumers. We recommend people with long term care insurance keep WA Cares just in case.”
According to a new investigation of 800 consumer complaints filed with the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), consumers say corporate long term care insurance can be a scam, jacking up premiums by 300%, dropping coverage with no refund, and denying promised benefits.
“My husband’s policy benefits total over $323,364, but MetLife denies or delays reimbursement of our claims at every turn. We need help, help that we deserve and paid for without fail. That’s why we are launching a petition asking Attorney General Bob Fergson to investigate and hold these companies accountable for the harm they are causing people,”
Nina Valerio, a retired Seattle University professor who cares for her husband Joseph W. Scott.
“This is an equity issue. Low and middle income folks, those least able to afford help with daily living tasks when confronted with health challenges are the ones WA Cares will help the most. All the other developed countries have universal coverage, and health outcomes are better. We need to get beyond politics on this. From a health standpoint, it’s very important to have long term care available to everyone in the state,”
Dr. Charles Mayer, family physician in Washington.
Linda Wright of Arlington, WA, and her husband, have had as many as 4 care-dependent family members live with them:
“None of our loved ones had resources to pay someone to help with their daily personal needs. Our family took shifts caregiving while continuing to work to pay our bills. It wears you out mentally, physically and financially. Long term care is a safety net no different from unemployment insurance — we hope we never need it, but glad it’s there if we do. The WA Cares Fund will cover respite care, in-home caregiving or time in a skilled nursing center, so you don’t have to sell everything you own to pay when insurance is capped out.”
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