Highlights from the Washington State Long-Term Care Services and Support Act

This new program will provide for in-home care or assisted living expense of up to $100 per day to a $36,500 LIFETIME maximum. (See this brief outline of the program from one of our partners.)

To fund the program, beginning January 1, 2022 a new payroll tax will assess each employee 0.58% of their W2 income with no income limitation. (For someone earning $100,000 that’s $580 annually). This is an employee tax and NOT an employer paid tax; employers will remit this tax (drawn from payroll) to the State of Washington.

You may have questions about what this program will mean for you, and your CWM advisory team is here to help.

All employees within Washington State have until November 1st to opt-out (some companies have imposed even earlier deadlines to allow time to administer and prepare for the upcoming payroll deductions.) 

Some important highlights:

1. The program is only good if you are living in the State of Washington at the time of need and does not extend to other states. If you move out-of-state for five years or more, you forgo any dollars previously paid-in.

2. The payroll tax rate is set at 0.58% for the first few years. After that, the Act requires that the tax rate be adjusted to ensure the program remains solvent, which could mean significant tax hikes in the future.

3. The daily benefit increases, and decreases based on Washington State CPI, so there is no guaranteed growth rate in the benefit.

If you have questions about the new state program, or whether it may make sense instead to opt-out by purchasing your own private long-term care insurance, please Contact Us to schedule a time where we can prepare a personalized analysis of your current situation and make any recommendations.

Watch the CWM News page or tune in to our upcoming Thirdly Webinars in the coming weeks for more information on this topic.

PS – If you are a client who is already happily retired, congratulations! There is nothing you need to do at this time. Know that your CWM team is here and happy to help your friends or loved ones who may have question about their own situation.