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Committee hears industry and agency support for changes to WA Cares trust program
Summary
House committee heard testimony on engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5291, which makes multiple changes to the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust (WA Cares) including adjustments to vesting, benefit indexing, enforcement, and a statutory framework for private supplemental policies.
The House Early Learning & Human Services Committee took public testimony on engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5291, which would modify Washington’s Long‑Term Services and Supports Trust Program (commonly called WA Cares). Committee staff outlined the program’s current structure and the bill’s proposed changes; stakeholders from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), insurers and aging-sector groups testified in support with recommendations.
O’Meara Harrington, committee staff counsel, briefed the committee on the trust program’s existing features: a premium assessment of 0.58% on employee wages, vesting rules (qualifying after three of the last six years or a total of 10 years with no more than a five‑year interruption), benefit units convertible to dollars at $100 per unit with a lifetime…
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