What Is the Washington Cares Fund and How Does It Work?

The Washington Cares Fund is a state-run long-term care insurance program that collects a 0.58% payroll premium from Washington employees and pays qualifying workers up to $36,500 in lifetime benefits for in-home care, assisted living, home modifications, and related services. It is the first publicly run long-term care insurance program in the United States, created by the legislature in 2019, with benefits available starting July 2026.¹

What You Pay

Every W-2 employee working in Washington pays 0.58% of gross wages into the fund. There is no cap on earnings, so unlike Social Security the premium applies to every dollar you earn, including bonuses, overtime, and paid time off.² Someone earning $75,000 a year pays about $435; someone earning $200,000 pays $1,160.

Your employer withholds the premium each pay period and remits it to the Employment Security Department quarterly. The entire cost falls on the employee. Employers do not match the contribution unless they voluntarily choose to cover part of it.³

If You’re Self-Employed

Self-employed workers are not automatically enrolled. You can opt in, but you must do so by June 30, 2026, or within three years of first becoming self-employed, whichever is later. This applies to sole proprietors, independent contractors, and LLC members. Once you opt in, the commitment is permanent until you retire or stop being self-employed.⁴

How You Qualify for Benefits

Paying the premium does not by itself entitle you to benefits. You have to meet one of three contribution pathways.

Ten Years of Contributions

The standard route: work at least 500 hours per year for ten years. The years do not have to be consecutive, but a gap of five or more years in a row resets the clock.⁵ Once you hit ten years, you have lifetime access to the full benefit.

Three of the Last Six Years

If you need care before reaching the ten-year mark, you can still qualify by having contributed in at least three of the six years immediately before you apply.⁶ This is the pathway for workers hit by sudden illness or disability.

Near-Retiree Pro-Rated Benefit

Workers born before January 1, 1968 earn 10% of the full benefit for each year they work at least 500 hours and pay in. Three years gets you roughly 30% of the benefit, or about $11,000. Even a single qualifying year earns 10%, around $3,650.⁷ This pathway exists because people close to retirement would never reach the ten-year threshold otherwise.

What the Benefit Covers

The full benefit is $36,500 in 2026, paid as reimbursement for approved long-term care services over your lifetime. The amount is indexed to inflation and grows each year.⁸ The Department of Social and Health Services administers the benefit, which covers:¹

Professional in-home caregivers who help with personal care and household tasks.
Paid family caregivers: a spouse, child, or other relative who already helps you can be formally recognized, trained, and compensated through the program.
Residential care in adult family homes, assisted living facilities, or nursing homes.
Home modifications such as wheelchair ramps, grab bars, widened doorways, and safety evaluations.
Home-delivered meals and transportation to medical appointments.

The $36,500 cap is a lifetime figure, not an annual one. The program’s own example estimates that paying a family caregiver for ten hours a week over two years uses roughly $31,200 of it. The benefit is better suited to the early stages of a care need, home modifications that let you stay in your house longer, or supplementing other resources, than it is to covering long-term facility care on its own.

How to Apply

Applications open statewide in mid-May 2026, and benefits become available starting July 2026. You can create a WA Cares Benefits Account through SecureAccess Washington beginning in April 2026.⁹ The process has several steps:

Set up your online account, verify your identity, and enter your Social Security number.
Submit your application online, by phone, or in person at your local Area Agency on Aging.
The fund verifies your work history, confirms you meet one of the vesting pathways, and sends a letter with your earned benefit amount.
You schedule a care needs assessment, either in person or by phone.
You receive a determination letter through your account and by email. If approved, you can start using the benefit immediately. If denied, you can appeal.

To qualify at the assessment, you must need help with at least three activities of daily living: bathing, bed mobility, eating, medication management, mobility, transferring, or toileting. Needing supervision because of cognitive impairment counts toward that requirement.⁶ Occasional help with one task is not enough; the program targets people with substantial ongoing care needs.

If You Leave Washington

Moving out of state does not automatically cut you off. Starting in July 2026, workers who have contributed for at least three qualifying years can opt into continued participation within one year of leaving Washington. Out-of-state benefits will not actually be available until July 2030, and the care-needs standard is different: you must either need help with at least two activities of daily living for at least 90 days, or require substantial supervision due to severe cognitive impairment.¹⁰

Who Can Skip the Premium

Several categories of workers can apply to be exempt from the 0.58% premium. Status-based exemptions include:¹¹

Workers whose primary residence is outside Washington but who work for a Washington employer.
Veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Spouses or registered domestic partners of active-duty service members.
Active-duty service members who also work a civilian job in Washington.
Non-immigrant visa holders, who are automatically exempt as of January 1, 2026. If you want to keep participating, you must tell your employer in writing.¹²

These exemptions are tied to your current status. If your situation changes, you have 90 days to notify your employer and the Employment Security Department, after which you begin paying premiums and earning benefit credit.¹²

The Private Insurance Exemption

A separate exemption was available in 2021 and 2022 for people who had purchased private long-term care insurance before November 1, 2021. That application window is closed. Workers who received that exemption are permanently excused from the premium and permanently ineligible for WA Cares benefits.¹²

If you took that exemption and now regret it, there is a limited chance to reverse course. Governor Ferguson signed a law allowing holders of the private insurance exemption to discontinue it between January 1, 2026, and June 30, 2028. Once you do, your employer begins withholding premiums and you start earning benefit credit.¹² If your private policy has lapsed or become unaffordable, this window is worth evaluating before it closes.

1
WA Cares Fund. Benefit Coverage
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WA Cares Fund. Premiums and Wage Reporting
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Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave. Estimate Your Paid Leave Payments
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WA Cares Fund. Self-Employed Opt-In
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WA Cares Fund. WA Cares Fund Toolkit Long Content
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WA Cares Fund. How the Fund Works
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WA Cares Fund. Benefits for Near-Retirees
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 50B.04.010 – Definitions
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WA Cares Fund. Applying for Benefits
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WA Cares Fund. Portable Benefits – Taking Your WA Cares Benefit Out of State
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Washington State Legislature. Chapter 50B.04 RCW – Long-Term Services and Supports
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WA Cares Fund. Exemptions