Protect long-term care benefit most will need; reject I-2124

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 23, 2024

Vote no on Initiative 2124.

As a family medicine doctor working in urgent care in Everett, I’ve seen firsthand how vital accessible long-term care is for families.

Whether it’s due to disability, aging or sickness, most of us are going to need long-term care one day. Washington’s new long-term care program helps us be prepared for that moment.

But if it passes, Initiative 2124 will bankrupt this program and throw 3.9 million workers, including nurses, teachers and grocery store workers, back onto the expensive private insurance market where companies routinely increase premiums by 50 percent, 100 percent, even 300 percent without warning. Women, who are most likely to leave a career to become family caregivers, will be hit the hardest.

Organizations like the MS Society, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Washington State Nurses Association oppose Initiative 2124 because they know it will make it harder for people to afford the care they need.

Protect Washington’s long-term care system—vote NO on Initiative 2124.

Dr. Kjersten Gmeiner

Seattle