This fall, voters may have the chance to weigh in on making the state’s new long-term care program an opt-in system. The new law as written is a mandatory program with a single opt-out timeframe that is approaching shortly. Workers in Washington only have until Nov. 1 to opt-out, which has been set up to help pay for nursing care and other support services for people who can’t care for themselves.
The new 0.58% state payroll tax, paid entirely by employees, is set to begin in January and is equivalent to $580 per year for someone who makes $100,000. It provides up to $36,500 in benefits.
Former state Rep. Cary Condotta is leading a signature drive on Initiative 1436 to stop the new employee tax from going into effect and to make the insurance program is optional. The initiative has been filed to the Washington State Legislature.
When the bill passed in 2019, it contained an opt-out provision and integrated it with private long-term care insurance. But according to the Association for Washington Business, an amendment passed this year that removed much of that flexibility. Now, workers with private long-term care insurance in place by the end of October 2021 can apply to be exempted from the tax, but without such coverage, the tax is permanent for all workers with no other opt-out periods. And most private insurance companies have stopped offering those programs in Washington.
If enacted, Condotta’s I-1436 would make the program an “opt-in” system.
For more information on the program, read an article on Crosscut.com. For more information on the ballot initiative, visit ClarkCountyToday.com.
Posted September 10, 2021