Like Paid Family and Medical Leave, WA Cares will be an incredible support for Washington workers. Just as we pay into programs like workers’ comp, while hoping we never need to use it, WA Cares will be there should we experience the need for help with things like dressing, bathing, getting around, making meals or managing medication.
I know from personal experience that our lives can be turned upside-down in an instant by the unexpected. My mom was a healthy, thriving 63-year-old when she had a life-changing stroke. If WA Cares had existed then, we would have been able to use those funds to get home care aides and pay for the modifications that allowed my mom to stay home with care instead of going into a facility.
We buy car and home insurance, even if we rarely need to use it. We are far more likely to need care at some point in our lives, or to become the caregiver for a loved one, than we are to experience a house fire or serious car accident. When the need for care happens, we won’t think of WA Cares as a tax, we’ll think of it as an essential lifeline.
