Washington workers who have paid into the state’s WA Cares Fund for 10 years can draw up to $36,500 toward long-term care, and the fund says benefits are now available statewide. The money goes straight to care providers, covering things like in-home help, adult day programs, home-delivered meals and nursing home stays. It is a lifetime total, not a yearly one.
Who gets the full $36,500
The fund’s eligibility page lays out three ways in. The “permanent” route is the one in the headline: contribute for at least 10 years and the benefit lasts for life. A calendar year counts toward the 10 when a worker logs at least 500 hours.
The “temporary” route is for people who have contributed for at least 3 of the past 6 years at the moment they apply. The “transition” route is for anyone born before January 1, 1968 who has paid in for at least one year. Those workers get 10% of the full benefit for each year contributed, which the fund says is currently $3,650 per year…