WA Cares Fund (AKA long-term care): Exemption applications available Oct. 1 — Washington State workers who hold existing long-term care insurance or purchase a new private policy before November 1, 2021, can apply for an exemption from WA Cares program starting October 1, 2021. Workers have until December 31, 2022 to file for an exemption but the state will start collecting premiums on January 1, 2022. If your exemption is approved after January 1, 2022 and you have already paid into the fund you will not receive a refund once your exemption is approved. Currently, once an exemption is approved, those individuals will be permanently excluded from WA Cares benefits, and they won’t be required to pay premiums.
Visit the WA Cares Fund website to learn about the benefit and what to expect. Your workers may look to you when they have questions about the WA Cares program, and we invite you to share our website as a resource. You can also check out their Employer page for helpful program information relating to your business. You can also find more resources in our Employer Toolkit, including a multi-language flyer that can help workers understand the benefit.
Visit their website to learn more , including specific questions for employers. We are anticipating that changes will be made to the program during the 2022 Legislative session, and they will be discussed at AGC’s Legislative Huddle meetings held during the session.