The WA Cares program, designed to help Washington state residents pay for long-term care, will go into effect in January, but legislators have challenges to address in the meantime.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers will vote Nov. 10 on recommendations that they and their peers can consider when they gather for the legislative session that begins in January, the Olympian reported; even lawmakers who once supported the measure are questioning it.
“I think the best thing the legislature can do is ideally get rid of it, or delay it and do some serious fixes,” state Rep. Drew MacEwen (R-Union), an early co-sponsor of WA Cares, told The Olympian.
The Evergreen State passed the nation’s first publicly funded long-term care insurance program in 2019 to help offset assisted living and other costs. A monthly mandatory payroll tax of 58 cents on every $100 in income is scheduled to go into effect in January, with benefits first payable in 2025. The program has met with widespread criticism, however, with thousands of Washingtonians looking to opt out of long-term care insurance tax.
Workers had until Monday for a one-time opt-out, but some activists are hoping to change that. Restore Washington, a conservative group, is collecting signatures for an initiative that, if passed, would allow residents to opt out at any time.
Some large corporations, such as Microsoft, Amazon and Alaska Airlines, reportedly are pleading with Gov. Jay Inslee (D) to delay the start date beyond Jan. 1, but he says he cannot do that.
“I do not have authority willy-nilly to just cancel these laws, and I don’t believe I have any emergency authority in this case — this is not COVID-related,” Inslee told MyNorthwest.
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