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WA Cares to begin paying July 1; officials report 113 applicants, 44 eligible so far
Summary
State staff told the LTSS Trust Commission that statewide applications for the WA Cares Fund have produced 113 applicants and 44 eligible beneficiaries as of June 22, with a roughly 50% denial rate (primarily for insufficient vesting); staff said eligibility determinations are moving faster than statutory targets.
The Washington Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Commission heard June 24 that the WA Cares Fund will begin paying benefits July 1 and that early program data show modest initial enrollment. Elena Tortellat, DSHS program analytics administrator, said the statewide application, which opened May 18, produced 113 applicants and 44 beneficiaries who have met both contribution and care‑needs requirements.
"Since statewide application launched in May, we've had another 105 applicants, which brings us up to 113 total," Elena Tortellat said. She reported that 14 assessments were completed in May and another 23 in June; all completed assessments so far met the care‑needs standard. The department has tracked a median eight days between the contribution‑determination step and eligibility decisions, well under the statutory 45‑day target.
Jennifer Ferguson, deputy director of the WA Cares Fund at the Department of Social and Health Services, summarized program basics for commissioners: contributions are set at 0.58% of payroll, the benefit has no deductible or waiting period, and benefit use requires meeting one of three contribution pathways and a care‑needs assessment. "This includes needing to meet both a contribution requirement and a care needs requirement," Ferguson said.
Commissioners and staff spent substantial time clarifying who will be eligible at launch and how eligibility pathways work. The statute has three routes to benefits: a permanent 10‑year vesting pathway, a temporary pathway for people who contributed at least 500 hours in each of 3 of the last 6 years, and a transition pathway granting partial access for people born before 1968. Staff reiterated that the 3‑of‑6 pathway can make a person immediately eligible if the hour thresholds are met.
Senator King asked whether people who use benefits while still working and later move out of state must continue to contribute. Staff answered that continuing to pay is elective: "nobody is required to continue to contribute when they move out of state," the commission chair said, while noting that people who have paid in for three years or more may elect to continue contributions to preserve vesting.
Commissioners urged clearer public education after staff showed a roughly 50% denial rate on contribution determinations so far, with insufficent vesting the most common cause. "That tells me that we have a lot of education to do about who is eligible for this benefit," Senator Conway said.
Staff described the practical steps for benefit access: applicants create an account, request a contribution determination from the Employment Security Department, submit an application in the WA Cares dashboard, receive a phone intake from DSHS contact‑center specialists, and then have an in‑home care‑needs assessment conducted by DSHS assessment specialists. Assessments are typically handled in 1–2 hours and can be scheduled telephonically or via contracted resources where needed.
The commission recorded a number of follow‑up items for staff, including clearer public-facing eligibility guidance to reduce ineligible applications and continued monitoring of timeliness and network readiness as beneficiary counts grow.
