OLYMPIA, Wash. – The window to apply for an exemption from Washington state’s new long-term care plan and the payroll tax that comes with it has closed.
You had to have private long-term care insurance in place before Monday, November 1st, to apply for an exemption from the program.
Most workers in the state will eventually be able to claim a maximum benefit of about $36,000, which Republican State Senator Mike Padden says is too little to make a difference.
“The benefits are very meager for the expenses that are out there for long-term care,” says Padden. “A nursing home is expensive. So the amount of money they are offering may last four, five or six months at most.”
He says he’ll introduce a bill that would allow residents to vote on whether to repeal the program.
But Cathy McCaul with AARP Washington says it’s really aimed at paying for services so more people can age in their own homes.
“Helping prepare meals. Helping them with a bath. Help with medications or what have you,” says McCaul. “So there’s a variety of services that are available for home and community-based services which are far more affordable than residential care or institutionalized care.”
Most Washington workers will pay a tax of 58 cents on every $100 they earn beginning in January, 2022.