WA workers can start receiving long-term care funds this week

Starting Wednesday, thousands of Washingtonians can start receiving money from the WA Cares Fund, a public long-term care insurance program called the “first in the nation” by Gov. Bob Ferguson.

Eligible workers can use the payouts for services like in-home care aides, transportation to medical appointments and safety upgrades in their homes. Depending on their needs and contributions thus far to the shared fund, workers can collect up to $36,500 during the first year of the program, paid for through a payroll tax state legislators created in 2019.

Only workers who have paid into the fund for three years and need help with at least three “activities of daily living” — including bathing, eating or managing their medication — become eligible for the benefits on Wednesday. Other workers can start receiving payouts after contributing to the fund for 10 years.

At a Tukwila news conference on Tuesday, Ferguson said the payouts will help Washingtonians get care that lets them live independently and “the dignity that comes with that.”

“You can’t put a price tag on that,” Ferguson said.

Nearly 3.7 million workers have paid the mandatory payroll tax since 2023, contributing 58 cents from every $100 of their W-2 wages. The fund is managed by the state’s Health Care Authority, Employment Security Department and Social and Health Services Department.

The program is meant to help people pay for long-term care that is too expensive or isn’t covered by other insurance programs, including Medicare or Medicaid. According to Ferguson, nearly a half-million Washingtonians will need such care over the next decade, but the majority of those residents do not have enough savings to pay for it out-of-pocket.

While the price of long-term care can exceed $36,500, the funding is enough for people like family caregiver advocate Christina Keys to “take a breath and figure out what (they) need to do next.”

On Tuesday, advocates like Keys and representatives of state agencies helping run the WA Cares Fund described their experiences of becoming caregivers. Keys had to start caring for her mother after she had a stroke, then became her partner’s caregiver after he had a seizure and a stroke.

Down to only one income, Keys said she sometimes struggled with the emotional, physical and financial tolls of her mother's and partner's care.

The WA Cares Act is meant to help people like Keys and their families, who need help urgently but don’t know how or where to get it.

Fellow caregiver Sonja Thomas said she feels relief knowing the fund will be there if or when she needs it.

The long-term care system can be complicated for anyone to navigate, even for someone like Thomas, who has spent the last 10 years as a professional caregiver — including two years caring for her 87-year-old aunt.

Many of Thomas’ clients, including her aunt, use a patchwork of Medicare or Medicaid and other public programs to help pay for their care, sometimes learning about new programs through word of mouth. Finding out which services are available and then applying for them can be especially challenging for homebound people who are aging, injured or sick, or those who don’t have someone checking on them regularly, Thomas said.

“I’ve seen how essential it is to have access to support,” Thomas said. “And I’m sure glad that I also have (the state) benefits when I need it.”

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