Beyond WA Cares: Helping Employees Build True Protection

For Washingtonians, the WA Cares Act introduced residents to the importance of planning for long-term care (LTC) expenses and provided a pathway to get basic protection. However, during the initial opt-out period, many employees viewed getting LTC benefits as an either-or choice: either staying in WA Cares or obtaining private insurance.

Many who purchased coverage only got the bare minimum to opt out of the tax. And, for those who remained part of the program, the benefits being offered by WA Care may not be enough. Given the costs of care, the WA Cares Act and existing private insurance may not be a sole solution to the care crisis, but rather a valuable starting point.

As the demand for LTC continues to evolve, producers in WA have a clear opportunity to offer additional solutions that meet employees where they are—by helping clients understand the benefits of stacking coverage. With WA Cares benefits or their private insurance alongside additional solutions, employees can create a much stronger safety net for themselves and their families.

The need for additional LTC coverage

LTC costs continue to rise

Many of your clients (and their employees) may feel they’re “all set” now that WA Cares is in place. They may have offered benefit options in the past that allowed their employees to opt out of WA Cares during the initial opt-out period. And if they didn’t, they likely assume their employees now pay into the program, just like they pay into Social Security or a 401(k), and don’t think twice about it.

But those assumptions can be misleading. With a current lifetime maximum benefit of $36,500, the WA Cares benefit is helpful but hardly sufficient, as the cost of care often exceeds that amount in just a few months. For example, the median cost of an assisted living community in WA was $83,700 annually in 2024. The WA Cares program does account for inflation of 2.5% each year, but with an increase of over 20% in the median assisted living costs since the initial WA Cares opt-out period in 2022, it’s clear that only adjusting for inflation will not be enough to support many Washingtonians’ future care needs.¹

For those who purchased a Trustmark policy but only purchased the minimum necessary coverage, they can collect up to $78,000 in care benefits, which is significantly better. However, depending on their care needs, this may still not be enough. Costs for in-home care or nursing home care exceed those of assisted living costs referenced above – a semi-private room in a nursing home cost $152,570 annually in the state of WA in 2024.

Employees need LTC protection, no matter where they live

Many Washingtonians who did not opt out of the WA Cares Act in 2022 believed that if they paid into the fund, they could receive benefits, but access to those benefits is not that straightforward. That’s because, currently, the WA Cares Act only provides benefits to employees who have both paid into the fund AND currently reside in Washington (i.e., the benefit wouldn’t follow you out of state). This means that employees who’ve paid into the program for years could lose access to the coverage entirely if they relocate—even for retirement.

However, starting in July 2026, WA Cares will begin to provide some portability to Washington residents who move out of state, allowing them to continue paying into the fund. Nevertheless, there are still significant limitations that residents should consider. In order to be an eligible out-of-state participant, workers will have to have contributed to the WA Cares Fund for a minimum of at least 3 years (with at least 500 hours worked in each of those years). Even then, the out-of-state benefits do not become available until July of 2030. 

Unlike WA Cares, private coverage (such as Trustmark’s suite of Life With Long-Term Care solutions) is portable the moment the policy is issued, meaning employees can take their benefits with them whenever, and wherever life takes them. It is not just a safeguard against the geographic limitations of WA Cares; it also provides higher benefit levels and added features that better align with the actual costs of care mentioned above.

Every care journey looks different

Many of the benefits relied upon by Washingtonians (either through private coverage or the WA Cares Fund) provide a much-needed baseline benefit. However, it often cannot account for the diverse range of personal circumstances that each unique employee may face, including different family dynamics, care preferences, and financial goals. It isn’t necessarily a matter of trying to fully cover all LTC costs, since other resources may come into play, such as savings or a 401(k). But the bottom line is that many are likely to need more protection than what they already have.

I’d encourage many brokers and employers to take a close look at stacking voluntary life insurance with LTC benefits to try to give employees the flexibility to build coverage that truly fits their lives and their needs. For example, some may want to plan for in-home care to stay close to loved ones, while others may need higher benefit amounts to protect their savings or support dependents. By layering on additional protection, you ultimately help employees move from a one-size-fits-all safety net to a personalized care strategy—one that can evolve as their needs change over time.

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Whether it’s helping your clients understand the rising costs of LTC, its limitations to portability, or that the WA Cares one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t work for everybody, the ongoing demand for additional LTC coverage has created a critical opportunity for producers in WA to help employees better prepare for LTC expenses.

When you can position hybrid life insurance with LTC benefits as a solution to help maximize the existing WA Cares benefit, you can provide Washingtonians with a clearer path to real financial protection.

It’s not about replacing what they already have; it’s about building on it, and ensuring that when care needs arise, families aren’t left with unexpected gaps.

_{¹Cost of Care. Genworth. 2025.}