Elizabeth Hovde of the Washington Policy Center provides an update from the Employment Security Department on exemption applications
Elizabeth Hovde
Washington Policy Center
As of Monday, Aug. 15, the Employment Security Department reports the following WA Cares exemption numbers:
- Total opt-out requests submitted: 478,781
- Total opt-out requests processed: 478,681
- Total opt-out requests approved: 475,072
- Applications processed as a percentage of total: 99.98 percent
Exemption applications continue to come in comparatively slow, which is expected and good for the Employment Security Department. It has stayed on top of this task, having processed 99.98 percent of applications it’s received. In January, a whole new batch of workers will be eligible to apply for an exemption from the law and its coming payroll tax. I am sure ESD is hoping for a clean slate before then.
Fifty-eight cents of every $100 a W2 worker earns will go toward a program that will help some people, regardless of their high or low income, with costs related to needing help with three or more activities of daily life — if they meet vestment, residency and health criteria.
The numbers above represent the first and once-only batch of people who might not have to give over another portion of their income to the state. The state’s long-term-care law allows Washingtonians who had private long-term-care insurance (LTCI) that was purchased by Nov.1, 2021 — before many people even knew about the tax — to opt out of the mandatory social program. (The tax now begins in July 2023, due to legislative delay.) The high number of opt-outs is impacting program solvency.
The window remains open for the rest of the year for these LTCI policy holders. See application instructions here.
Elizabeth Hovde is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.
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