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# WA Cares Act paycheck tax for long-term care takes effect July 1
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/articles/briefs/2023/06/wa-cares-act-paycheck-tax-long-term-care-takes-effect-july-1/
- Published: 2023-06-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-19T11:19:04.000Z
- Author: Donna Gordon Blankinship
- Tags: Politics, #brief, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-04-25 08:30, #Import 2025-05-09 14:33, #article

More than 3 million Washington residents will begin earning benefits through Washington’s new long-term care insurance program on July 1.

Working people who did not opt out will contribute 0.58% of each paycheck to the Washington Cares Fund through automatic payroll deductions. Those who contribute to the fund will be entitled to a $36,500 lifetime benefit, which will be adjusted for inflation, for long-term care services when they need them.

The deductions begin July 1, 2023, but the benefits won’t be accessible until July 1, 2026.  
  
[The money can be used](https://crosscut.com/politics/2022/01/whats-next-beleaguered-wa-long-term-care-program?ref=cascadepbs.org) for a range of services to help people meet their long-term care needs while remaining in their homes. Those services could include transportation, paying a caregiver, home safety modifications or home-delivered meals.  
  
Washington [employers are required](https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/employers?ref=cascadepbs.org) to withhold contributions from workers’ paychecks for the program. People with private long-term care insurance [can opt out of the program](https://crosscut.com/politics/2021/08/why-some-plan-opt-out-new-wa-long-term-care-insurance?ref=cascadepbs.org), however, by filling out an exemption application.