Quick Summary The WA Cares Fund provides a $36,500 lifetime benefit for qualifying long-term care costs — approximately four to five months of memory care at current Washington state rates. Benefits became available statewide on July 1, 2026. For retirees who need extended care, the fund covers the beginning of the need and nothing more. Most Washington families will need a supplemental plan to fund the years that follow.
What Is the WA Cares Fund and When Did It Start?
The WA Cares Fund is Washington state's public long-term care benefit program, funded through a payroll assessment on W-2 employees. After years of legislative development and a delayed rollout, statewide benefits became available on July 1, 2026.
The program was created to address a real problem: most Americans have no plan for long-term care costs, and Medicaid — the traditional fallback — requires spending down nearly all assets before benefits begin. The WA Cares Fund was designed to give Washington workers a modest benefit without requiring full financial depletion.
It is a meaningful step. But for most retirees in the Tri-Cities and eastern Washington, it is not enough on its own — and understanding exactly where it falls short is the first step toward building a plan that actually works.
What Does the WA Cares Fund Cover?
The WA Cares Fund covers a defined list of qualifying long-term care services, including:
- In-home care and personal assistance
- Adult day services
- Assisted living and residential care
- Memory care facilities
- Home modifications for safety
- Caregiver training and support
- Assistive technology
To access benefits, a Washington resident must be assessed and determined to need assistance with at least three activities of daily living — such as bathing, dressing, eating, or mobility. The benefit is paid directly to approved providers or to the individual as a reimbursement for qualifying costs.
What the WA Cares Fund does not cover: Medicare copays and deductibles, medical care outside of custodial long-term care, and care costs that exceed the lifetime maximum benefit.
How Much Does Long-Term Care Cost in Washington State?
This is where the math becomes important — and sobering.
Long-term care costs in Washington state vary by setting and level of need, but in the Tri-Cities region, current rates run approximately:
- Memory care: $7,000 to $9,000 per month
- Assisted living: $4,000 to $6,000 per month
- In-home care (full-time): $4,500 to $6,500 per month
These are not worst-case projections. They are current regional averages. And they do not include inflation — care costs have historically increased faster than general inflation, meaning the gap between what care costs and what most people have saved for it grows larger each year.
Nationally, the average long-term care event lasts approximately 2.5 years for men and 3.7 years for women. A meaningful percentage of care events extend well beyond those averages, particularly for memory-related conditions.
The WA Cares Fund Gap: $36,500 Against Real Care Costs
Here is the honest math.
The WA Cares Fund provides a $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit. At current Tri-Cities memory care rates of $7,000 to $9,000 per month, that benefit covers approximately four to five months of care.
At assisted living rates, it stretches to six to nine months.
That is the entire benefit — for life. Once it is used, it is gone. There is no renewal, no additional funding, no inflation adjustment built into the lifetime cap.
For a care event that lasts two, three, or four years — which is common — the WA Cares Fund covers the first chapter. The remaining years come from somewhere else: personal savings, family support, Medicaid spend-down, or a dedicated long-term care funding plan.
For most eastern Washington retirees, the question is not whether the WA Cares Fund helps. It does. The question is: what funds the years after month five?
Who Is Exempt from the WA Cares Fund Payroll Assessment?
Some Washington residents opted out of the WA Cares Fund payroll assessment during the exemption window, typically by demonstrating they had qualifying private long-term care insurance in place before the application deadline.
If you opted out, you will not pay the payroll assessment — and you will not receive WA Cares Fund benefits. Your private LTC policy is your plan, and it should be reviewed to confirm it still adequately covers current care costs.
If you did not opt out and have been contributing through payroll, you are building toward the $36,500 lifetime benefit — with the gap analysis above still applying.
Either way, a review of your current coverage and your long-term care exposure is the right starting point.
Three Ways Eastern Washington Retirees Are Filling the Gap
For retirees who want a plan that covers more than four months of care, there are three primary funding strategies — each with different structures, costs, and tradeoffs.
1. Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance A standalone LTC policy pays a daily or monthly benefit for qualifying care, up to a defined benefit period. Premiums are paid annually. The policy pays if care is needed — and pays nothing if it is not. Premiums can increase over time, and underwriting requires a health qualification process.
2. Short-Term Care Insurance Short-term care insurance covers recovery and care needs lasting 30 to 360 days — filling the gap that Medicare partially addresses but does not fully cover. It is easier to qualify for than traditional LTC insurance and is often more affordable. It is not designed to cover multi-year care events, but it handles the shorter events that are more common.
3. Asset-Based Long-Term Care Annuity An asset-based long-term care annuity repositions a lump sum of savings you already have into a specially structured contract that multiplies the available dollars for qualifying care costs. Under IRS Code 7702B, withdrawals for covered care expenses are tax-free. If care is never needed, the remaining value continues to grow tax-deferred and passes to beneficiaries as a death benefit.
Unlike traditional LTC insurance, there are no ongoing premiums — the contribution is a one-time repositioning of existing savings. Unlike self-funding, the annuity multiplies the available care dollars significantly beyond the original amount. And unlike spending down to Medicaid, your savings remain an asset on your balance sheet.
For eastern Washington retirees who have savings they do not plan to spend in the near term, the asset-based approach is often the most efficient structure — because the money does not disappear if care is never needed.
Why This Conversation Matters More in Eastern Washington
In the Tri-Cities region and communities like Prosser, Grandview, and Sunnyside, retirement looks different than it does in Seattle or Spokane.
Many families here own land, run small businesses, or built their savings through decades of work at Hanford, PNNL, or in agricultural industries. That savings represents a lifetime of hard work — and a single multi-year care event, without a plan, can deplete it faster than most people expect.
Mark Rogers, CLTC, LUTCF, is based in Prosser and has spent more than 20 years helping eastern Washington families build long-term care funding strategies that protect what they have worked to build. The CLTC designation — Certified in Long-Term Care — is a credential specific to the emotional, financial, and practical dimensions of this planning. It is the credential that matters most for this conversation.
If you want to understand your options before scheduling anything, the Talking Turning 65 podcast covers long-term care costs, the WA Cares Fund, and annuity-based funding strategies in plain English — free, any time at TalkingTurning65.com.
Frequently Asked Questions About the WA Cares Fund
How much does the WA Cares Fund pay out in Washington state? The WA Cares Fund provides a lifetime maximum benefit of $36,500 for qualifying long-term care costs. Benefits became available statewide on July 1, 2026. The benefit is adjusted for inflation over time, but the lifetime cap means it covers a limited portion of extended care needs.
Is the WA Cares Fund enough to cover memory care in Washington? No. Memory care in Washington state currently averages $7,000 to $9,000 per month. The WA Cares Fund's $36,500 lifetime maximum covers approximately four to five months of memory care at current rates. For retirees who need extended care, the fund covers an initial period — the remaining months and years require a separate funding plan.
What happens after the WA Cares Fund runs out? Once the $36,500 lifetime benefit is exhausted, costs are paid out of personal savings, family contributions, or Medicaid — which requires spending down assets to near-zero before benefits begin. A dedicated long-term care funding strategy — such as an asset-based LTC annuity — is designed to fund the years after the WA Cares Fund is depleted.
Can I use an annuity to pay for long-term care in Washington state? Yes. An asset-based long-term care annuity structured under IRS Code 7702B provides tax-free withdrawals for qualifying care costs. It works by repositioning a lump sum of existing savings into a contract that multiplies the available dollars for care — and passes unused funds to beneficiaries as a death benefit if care is never needed.
Does Medicare cover long-term care in Washington state? Medicare does not cover custodial long-term care — the ongoing assistance with daily activities that most retirees need during a care event. Medicare covers limited short-term skilled nursing facility stays under specific conditions and some home health visits. For extended assisted living, memory care, or home care, Medicare pays nothing.
Find Out Where You Stand Before You Need To Know
The best time to build a long-term care funding plan is before a health event forces the conversation. Underwriting is easier, options are wider, and the lump sum required to fund an asset-based strategy is lower when you plan earlier.
A free 30-minute consultation with Mark Rogers gives you an honest look at your long-term care exposure, what the WA Cares Fund covers for your specific situation, and whether an asset-based long-term care annuity makes sense as part of your retirement plan.
Call or Text: (509) 392-4366
Or explore long-term care planning and annuity-based funding options at:
- Long-Term Care Planning →
- Long-Term Care with Annuities →
My Safe Money Matters | Mark Rogers, CLTC, LUTCF | 1126 Meade Avenue, Suite B, Prosser, WA 99350 | Serving Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, Prosser, West Richland, and communities throughout Benton, Franklin, and Yakima counties.