Washington state receives 95,000 exemption applications to new long-term care benefit in first week

Local // Local NewsAlec Regimbal, SeattlePI

Oct. 11, 2021

Long-term care health insurancedesigner491 – Fotolia

In the first week Washington workers could opt out of the state’s new long-term care insurance benefit — the so-called “WA Cares Fund” — the agency received thousands of applications for exemptions.

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 8, the WA Cares Fund received roughly 95,000 exemption submissions, said Nick Demerice, the legislative affairs director for the state Employment Security Department. The first day workers could apply for an exemption was Oct. 1.

The benefit is funded by a new payroll tax, which

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