2025: A year in review

A new law expanded opportunities to access long-term care support through WA Cares. The law set up standards for supplemental private long-term care insurance policies for WA Cares participants who want more coverage, created an opportunity for workers with a private insurance exemption to join the program and simplified the ten-year contribution requirement to qualify for benefits. Learn more.  

We finished building the systems for applying and managing WA Cares benefits. During the process, we did extensive testing to make sure the systems will be easy for applicants and beneficiaries to use.  

We successfully built the intake team for our pilot program with training now underway. Our intake team will help applicants schedule and prepare for their care needs assessment. 

We strengthened our partnership with 13 local Area Agencies on Aging to expand access to community-based support across the state.  

We partnered with 19 organizations across the state and presented in-person and virtually to over 1,500 Washingtonians. Interested in a presentation on WA Cares for your community organization, professional association or business? Fill out our speaker request form and we will get back to you with our staff’s availability. 

We hosted 16 webinars with over 3,200 attendees total. Our webinars focused on topics ranging from program basics to long-term care planning to employer information and are now available in five languages. Watch recordings of past webinars and register for upcoming webinars. 

We saw more than 300,000 users visit our website throughout the year. Our user-friendly website offers many long-term care resources, a toolkit and program news. You can even translate all website content into 15 languages. 

We sent newsletters and email updates to more than 15,100 subscribers. Sign up today to receive monthly newsletters, webinar highlights, personalized program updates and more in your inbox. 

Our dedicated benefits and customer care team provided high-quality support for over 17,000 calls and emails about the program. If you have a question about the program, you can contact us for help.  

Voters approved SJR 8201, which will allow the state to invest WA Cares funds in a more diversified portfolio. Analysis from an independent actuarial firm suggests this change is likely to yield greater investment returns over the long term. 

Adopted WA Cares rules under chapter 388-116 WAC, including eligibility requirements, provider registration requirements, rates and reimbursements, and administrative hearings. Learn more about rulemaking.