Helping military families, disabled veterans

It is clear that individuals and families need better options for long-term care. This is especially true in rural communities like ours, where people want the resources to age or take care of a loved one at home.

Private insurance used to be an option, but it is not affordable for most of us now. Worse, many plans do not cover pre-existing conditions.

This leaves families with terrible choices. Many spend their life savings, sell their homes and go into bankruptcy to pay for long-term care.

We even see couples married for over 50 years get divorced – not because they no longer love each other, but as a financial decision to avoid total ruin as they try to pay for long-term care.

That hits home for our family. Our own son had significant health issues when he was a baby. As my wife and I struggled with our own insurance coverage and mounting bills, one person suggested that we could divorce so that my wife would qualify for public assistance. That is just not right.

We can no longer accept our broken system for long-term care. We need to start helping families plan for their future so they can age in place, in their own homes. WA Cares provides a solution and that’s why it is so important to make it a successful program and accessible for as many people as possible.

Since this is a new program – and the first of its kind in the nation – there are issues to fix, especially for military families, disabled veterans and other distinct groups.

Many military families retire outside of Washington state, so exempting them from the program makes sense. Servicemembers could already get an exemption; their spouses should have the same option.

Disabled veterans also already receive services at the federal level, so they should also be exempt from paying into WA Cares.

I listened to those concerns and introduced House Bill 1733 to support military families and veterans and worked to ensure the legislation was passed quickly.

I am happy to report this bill got an early vote on the floor and has already been signed into law.

On the same day this important legislation was passed out of the House, I voted for a companion bill, House Bill 1732, to extend the implementation of the WA Cares program by 18 months. Businesses will not have to collect premiums from workers during that time. We will use this extra time to make more improvements to the policy, including allowing people closer to retirement to collect the benefits. This delay also lets people get refunds on any prematurely collected premiums.

It has been an honor to meet so many members of the military, veterans and their families here in the 10th District. As the session progresses, I will keep you informed about important issues – and I’ll keep listening and working with you, on common-sense reforms to make this a better place to live and work.