Last week, hundreds of family caregivers, advocates and nurses across the state launched a campaign to defeat a Washington ballot initiative that would cut funding to long-term health care benefits. If passed, Initiative 2124 would let Washington employees opt out of paying the payroll tax and receiving benefits under the WA Cares Fund, the state’s long-term health care program that was created in 2019. It is the first program of its kind in the country.
While proponents of I-2124 argue the WA Cares tax burdens state residents, Vancouver resident Christina Keys is among those who want the program to continue. She adds her voice to the campaign urging voters to reject the Nov. 5 ballot measure.
About 12 years ago, she quit her job to become a full-time caregiver for her mother who lost function after a stroke. Over the next 10 years, she maxed out credit cards, emptied her 401(k) and other savings, and worked multiple part-time jobs in order to afford daily care for her mother, Patricia Keys. Patricia Keys died in December 2022.
Two years after her mother’s death, Christina Keys is 55 years old and just starting to rebuild her life, she said. “I did everything I was supposed to: I got a job, I chased the American dream, put money into my 401(k),” she said. “But when my mother had her stroke, I walked into that hospital as a career woman, and walked out as a family caregiver with no training.
” The WA Cares Fund is a health care program that applies a 0.58 percent ta.