[US] Mandatory payroll tax to fund long-term care programme

A mandatory payroll tax to fund Washington state’s new long-term care programme will begin to come out of most workers’ pay cheques across the state in January 2022, Centre Daily Times reports.

The insurance benefit has been dubbed the WA Cares Fund, it is a first-in-nation public insurance programme aimed at helping older residents continue to occupy their own homes as they age, according to reporting by The Seattle Times. 

The plan was signed into law in 2019 through the Long Term Care Trust Act, it will use a 0.58 per cent payroll tax to provide up to a $36,500 benefit for individuals to pay for home health care and an array of services related to long-term health care needs including equipment, transportation and meal assistance. 

The WA Cares Fund is expected to save $3.9 billion in state Medicaid costs by 2052 and eligible beneficiaries will be able to begin collecting benefits from 2025. 

The programme has drawn criticism and praise from advocacy groups and politicians. Advocates cite Washington state’s rapidly ageing population and high premiums on the current private long-term care market but critics have deemed the plan expensive, unnecessary and inflexible in terms of eligibility and payout.

A mandatory payroll tax to fund Washington state’s new long-term care programme will begin to come out of most workers’ pay cheques across the state in January 2022, Centre Daily Times reports.

The insurance benefit has been dubbed the WA Cares Fund, it is a first-in-nation public insurance programme aimed at helping older residents continue to occupy their own homes as they age, according to reporting by The Seattle Times. 

The plan was signed into law in 2019 through the Long Term Care Trust Act, it will use a 0.58 per cent payroll tax to provide up to a $36,500 benefit for individuals to pay for home health care and an array of services related to long-term health care needs including equipment, transportation and meal assistance. 

The WA Cares Fund is expected to save $3.9 billion in state Medicaid costs by 2052 and eligible beneficiaries will be able to begin collecting benefits from 2025. 

The programme has drawn criticism and praise from advocacy groups and politicians. Advocates cite Washington state’s rapidly ageing population and high premiums on the current private long-term care market but critics have deemed the plan expensive, unnecessary and inflexible in terms of eligibility and payout.