Press Release – Making WA Cares benefits portable is a win for border communities
October 17, 2024
At Aging & Long-Term Care of Eastern Washington, our team works every day to support families as they confront challenges to accessing and paying for long-term care. As our population ages, many residents of our community are at risk of depleting their savings or depending on loved ones for financial assistance later in life. The WA Cares Fund, our state’s new long-term care insurance program for workers, is an important step toward tackling this critical issue.
Earlier this year, the state legislature made a major improvement to WA Cares: ensuring workers who leave Washington state can continue participating in the program and use their benefits wherever they go. For workers in Spokane and other border communities in eastern Washington, this change provides greater flexibility and peace of mind, knowing that their benefits remain accessible even if they take a job in Idaho or someday decide to retire elsewhere. If you live out of state but work in Washington and don’t want to participate in the program, you can apply for an exemption.
For the 70% of us who will need long term care, WA Cares is designed to help you stay in your own home for longer. With WA Cares, you can hire an in-home caregiver, pay a loved one to provide your care, make home safety improvements like installing grab bars or a wheelchair ramp, have meals delivered, get transportation to appointments or buy assistive technology like medication reminders or fall detection devices. WA Cares benefits can also be used for an assisted living facility or nursing home.
Without a program like WA Cares, long-term care costs and the responsibility to provide care fall on family and friends, often at a high financial cost from lost wages and care expenses. The WA Cares fund will provide critical financial help, helping to cover care costs and giving your family support and tools they need to care for you. It’s flexible, so you can decide how to spend your benefit in ways that will help you.
For many families, having an older loved one who needs long-term care can push the whole family into a financial tailspin. The WA Cares Fund is an essential stride towards a more stable future for all Washington workers – and now improved for communities like ours with benefits that go where you go.