long term care

Following widespread criticisms and voter pushback, Democrats in the Washington state House on Wednesday voted to delay the collection of a new payroll tax to fund a state-run, long-term care insurance program called WA Cares.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee says he would support a short-term delay in the implementation of a new payroll tax on workers. That tax is scheduled to take effect in January. It will fund a first-in-the-nation long-term care insurance program called WA Cares. Concerns have been raised about details of how the program will work.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate covers more than 800-thousand workers in education, state government and healthcare. But there’s one group of hands-on caregivers it doesn’t apply to.

Long-term care insurance companies have temporarily halted sales in Washington. The move follows a frenzy of interest in the costly insurance policies prompted by a November 1 deadline to opt out of a new state-run long-term care program.

Washington is poised to become the first state in the nation to offer a public health insurance option, as well as a new, employee-paid long-term care…