Washington’s New Long‑Term Care Program Offers a Fresh Way to Pay for Aging Needs

When Kelly Haggett, 67, noticed a tiny line on her pay stub saying “WA Cares surcharge,” she shrugged it off. “It’s only about a two on my annoyance scale for taxes,” she told us, smiling. That extra 0.58 % of her wages funds Washington’s first state‑operated long‑term‑care insurance, a program that started paying out benefits on July 1.

The idea is simple enough: workers who contribute for at least ten years qualify for a lifetime benefit of $36,500, adjusted for inflation. A 36‑year‑old earning $50,000 a year who puts $291 a year into the fund for a decade could end up with a projected $98,000 benefit when she turns 75. It’s not a fortune, but it can cover home‑care aides, transportation, adult‑day programs, even home modifications like ramps and grab bars.

Haggett, a systems administrator from Auburn, had already looked at private long‑term‑care policies and walked away. “It’s crazy expensive,” she said, adding that premiums often jump, leaving you to pay “whatever, whenever.” For her, WA Cares won’t replace every dollar she might need, especially since she started paying after she was already in her 60s. Still, she thinks the $18,250 she’d receive after a full decade of contributions is worth protecting her wife’s savings.

The program didn’t arrive on a silver platter. It survived two statewide votes trying to scrap or weaken it, and now other states are watching closely. As AARP’s Washington advocacy director Cathleen MacCaul points out, roughly 70 % of Americans will need some form of long‑term care, yet most have never planned for it. Medicare barely helps, and Medicaid’s strict income limits force many middle‑class families to drain their assets just to qualify.

That gap has left the private market in tatters. Companies that once dominated—Genworth, John Hancock, MetLife—have largely exited, hit by low interest rates and higher than expected lapse rates. “We were losing money, so we got out,” recalls Claude Thau of Milliman. The result? Fewer options for consumers like Haggett and a growing appetite for public solutions.

Washington’s experiment may not solve every problem, but it shows a modest, mandatory contribution can create a baseline safety net. As Richard Frank of the Brookings Institution puts it, “Long‑term care is the largest area of unprotected health risk in the United States. Most people have nothing.” WA Cares is a step toward changing that.