Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

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Bmac
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Bmac »

What the heck? I was finally able to create an account and received a customer ID, but below this I got the following:

"Exemption applications may be submitted starting on Monday, November 1, 2021. Please check back at that time to complete the application submission process."

What's the deal with November 1st?
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truenyer
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by truenyer »

Bmac wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:23 pm What the heck? I was finally able to create an account and received a customer ID, but below this I got the following:

"Exemption applications may be submitted starting on Monday, November 1, 2021. Please check back at that time to complete the application submission process."

What's the deal with November 1st?
Maybe someone at ESD finally figured out that Oct 1 (exemption start date) and Nov 1 (coverage requirement) weren't actually the same date?? /s
tomsense76
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by tomsense76 »

czaj wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:05 pm The site now shows "Down for Maintenance"
Probably swamped by people going in to fill out the form
"Anyone who claims to understand quantum theory is either lying or crazy" -- Richard Feynman
Bmac
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Bmac »

Amen to that. What a fiasco.
StoopieHippo
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by StoopieHippo »

Hmmm, I was able to make an account but didn't need to upload ID. Was it on the same account creation page, anyone know? Did I just miss it...?
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

StoopieHippo wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:01 pm Hmmm, I was able to make an account but didn't need to upload ID. Was it on the same account creation page, anyone know? Did I just miss it...?
After you create both accounts (!) and add FLMP to your services, there should be a link to apply (see https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/apply-for-an-exemption/)
tomsense76
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by tomsense76 »

Bmac wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:44 pm Amen to that. What a fiasco.
+100
"Anyone who claims to understand quantum theory is either lying or crazy" -- Richard Feynman
Flyer24
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Flyer24 »

As a reminder, this is a “no politics” forum.
Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
MrBaseball34
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by MrBaseball34 »

Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:57 pm Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
It was on the page earlier, but it's not showing now.
Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

MrBaseball34 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:19 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:57 pm Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
It was on the page earlier, but it's not showing now.
Thank you! I'll wait for it to reappear. I created a benefit account by accident, hopefully no foul.
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:26 pm
MrBaseball34 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:19 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:57 pm Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
It was on the page earlier, but it's not showing now.
Thank you! I'll wait for it to reappear. I created a benefit account by accident, hopefully no foul.
There's a message on WA Cares saying it's down and they're working on it:
Exemption accounts are down.
Our technical teams are working on a solution and we will post updates here as we have them. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

(Updated 10:59 a.m. on Friday, October 1)
Someone postes above that they had moved the date back to Nov 1st but idk if that's really the case.

(OT rant, but seriously, why does this always happen?! As an IT pro myself, I can't understand why people never seem to plan for high load when they open something new like that. In the cloud computing era, this is even more dumbfounding. And yet, I'm not surprised.)
Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:35 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:26 pm
MrBaseball34 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:19 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:57 pm Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
It was on the page earlier, but it's not showing now.
Thank you! I'll wait for it to reappear. I created a benefit account by accident, hopefully no foul.
There's a message on WA Cares saying it's down and they're working on it:
Exemption accounts are down.
Our technical teams are working on a solution and we will post updates here as we have them. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

(Updated 10:59 a.m. on Friday, October 1)
Someone postes above that they had moved the date back to Nov 1st but idk if that's really the case.

(OT rant, but seriously, why does this always happen?! As an IT pro myself, I can't understand why people never seem to plan for high load when they open something new like that. In the cloud computing era, this is even more dumbfounding. And yet, I'm not surprised.)
Yeah I saw the banner, but having never seen the page, I wasn't sure what to expect. Heck, I was surprised my username was taken on SecureAccess; somewhere somehow someone created my account.

I reset the password on it and made sure it was mine; I confirmed it by going to DOL from SAW, and it was indeed mine.

I'm an IT pro as well, the site bombarded today & they not ready is kind of expected in my opinion.
StoopieHippo
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by StoopieHippo »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:19 pm
StoopieHippo wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:01 pm Hmmm, I was able to make an account but didn't need to upload ID. Was it on the same account creation page, anyone know? Did I just miss it...?
After you create both accounts (!) and add FLMP to your services, there should be a link to apply (see https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/apply-for-an-exemption/)
Well, I already had a SAW account, so I only needed to add FLMP and create that one account...
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:39 pm
pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:35 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:26 pm
MrBaseball34 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:19 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:57 pm Where do folks see the WA Cares account? I'm at Paid Family and Medical Leave menu but I only see "Benefit Account," "Employers," "Employer Agent" and "Elective Coverage."
It was on the page earlier, but it's not showing now.
Thank you! I'll wait for it to reappear. I created a benefit account by accident, hopefully no foul.
There's a message on WA Cares saying it's down and they're working on it:
Exemption accounts are down.
Our technical teams are working on a solution and we will post updates here as we have them. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

(Updated 10:59 a.m. on Friday, October 1)
Someone postes above that they had moved the date back to Nov 1st but idk if that's really the case.

(OT rant, but seriously, why does this always happen?! As an IT pro myself, I can't understand why people never seem to plan for high load when they open something new like that. In the cloud computing era, this is even more dumbfounding. And yet, I'm not surprised.)
Yeah I saw the banner, but having never seen the page, I wasn't sure what to expect. Heck, I was surprised my username was taken on SecureAccess; somewhere somehow someone created my account.

I reset the password on it and made sure it was mine; I confirmed it by going to DOL from SAW, and it was indeed mine.

I'm an IT pro as well, the site bombarded today & they not ready is kind of expected in my opinion.
If you have a DOL account, then it's the same one. I was also (pleasantly) surprised.

And yes, I totally expected that the site would get overwhelmed. Which only proves my point - it shouldn't happen, but it always does.
Whakamole
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Whakamole »

Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:44 pm Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
Yes. Your exemption takes effect at the beginning of the quarter following approval, and any tax already paid isn't refundable. So if your application isn't approved by end of December, then you will pay the tax at least Jan - Mar.

Probably a good year to front-load your pre-tax 401(k) if you're a high earner. Although I'm not sure if 401(k) contributions are taken out of this tax basis.
Whakamole
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Whakamole »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:56 pm
Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:44 pm Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
Yes. Your exemption takes effect at the beginning of the quarter following approval, and any tax already paid isn't refundable. So if your application isn't approved by end of December, then you will pay the tax at least Jan - Mar.

Probably a good year to front-load your pre-tax 401(k) if you're a high earner. Although I'm not sure if 401(k) contributions are taken out of this tax basis.
I frontload anyway, but usually leave myself a bit of a paycheck; not this year.

There will be a lot of upset people if the state is slow in processing the backlog. I don't have high hopes, it's been three hours since the site went down.
czaj
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by czaj »

willthrill81 wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:40 pm The NYL agent that I went through to buy my LTC policy just called me. He wants to do a brief Zoom meeting with me next week to review what I need to do in order to get the exemption from the WA state tax. He's not getting any sort of benefit from doing so, just being very helpful. I'm shocked in an extremely positive way! :D
Mine has offered the same, in addition to "walking through the policy" once I was approved. The only motivations I could see was (1) they want to form a "relationship" with you to sell more products. And (2) related to LTCi, the only motivation I could see is that they wanted to make sure you do opt out so you don't get mad at them and lapse the policy early because you failed to apply for exemption. Though, a lot of the policies have peanut-sized premiums (and associated commission) that doesn't seem worth the effort.
czaj
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by czaj »

Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:06 pm
pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:56 pm
Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:44 pm Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
Yes. Your exemption takes effect at the beginning of the quarter following approval, and any tax already paid isn't refundable. So if your application isn't approved by end of December, then you will pay the tax at least Jan - Mar.

Probably a good year to front-load your pre-tax 401(k) if you're a high earner. Although I'm not sure if 401(k) contributions are taken out of this tax basis.
I frontload anyway, but usually leave myself a bit of a paycheck; not this year.

There will be a lot of upset people if the state is slow in processing the backlog. I don't have high hopes, it's been three hours since the site went down.
I assumed they would auto-approve a lot of these exemptions as long as they got a hit when checking their LTCi database. I could be wrong, but I doubt they would manually approve each exemption.
intendi
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by intendi »

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I honestly don't know if I would have acted on this in time given the relative paucity of news coverage and the fact that my employer didn't say word one about it. There has to be a lot of people in the dark about this still.
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willthrill81
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by willthrill81 »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:56 pm
Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:44 pm Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
Yes. Your exemption takes effect at the beginning of the quarter following approval, and any tax already paid isn't refundable. So if your application isn't approved by end of December, then you will pay the tax at least Jan - Mar.

Probably a good year to front-load your pre-tax 401(k) if you're a high earner. Although I'm not sure if 401(k) contributions are taken out of this tax basis.
Forcing people to pay a nonrefundable tax that they were legally allowed to opt out of and made an effort to do so but they couldn't solely because the ESD didn't 'get around to it in time' is a situation ripe for a class action lawsuit.
Last edited by willthrill81 on Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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willthrill81
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by willthrill81 »

czaj wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:14 pm
willthrill81 wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:40 pm The NYL agent that I went through to buy my LTC policy just called me. He wants to do a brief Zoom meeting with me next week to review what I need to do in order to get the exemption from the WA state tax. He's not getting any sort of benefit from doing so, just being very helpful. I'm shocked in an extremely positive way! :D
Mine has offered the same, in addition to "walking through the policy" once I was approved. The only motivations I could see was (1) they want to form a "relationship" with you to sell more products. And (2) related to LTCi, the only motivation I could see is that they wanted to make sure you do opt out so you don't get mad at them and lapse the policy early because you failed to apply for exemption. Though, a lot of the policies have peanut-sized premiums (and associated commission) that doesn't seem worth the effort.
Those could indeed be his motivations, especially the latter. I don't have any intention on cancelling the policy any time soon. Olympia is too likely to change their mind about all of this.
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pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

willthrill81 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:52 pm
pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:56 pm
Whakamole wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:44 pm Does anyone know what happens if they don't process our exemptions by January 1? Are we stuck paying the tax until they work through the backlog?

I doubt this agency has more staff than the LTC insurance companies who were swamped with applications.
Yes. Your exemption takes effect at the beginning of the quarter following approval, and any tax already paid isn't refundable. So if your application isn't approved by end of December, then you will pay the tax at least Jan - Mar.

Probably a good year to front-load your pre-tax 401(k) if you're a high earner. Although I'm not sure if 401(k) contributions are taken out of this tax basis.
Forcing people to pay a nonrefundable tax that they were legally allowed to opt out of and made an effort to do so but they couldn't solely because the ESD didn't 'get around to it in time' is a situation ripe for a class action lawsuit.
Does sound like it would/should be, eh? There is no provision (that I'm aware of) that says that ESD is supposed to make a decision within a certain timeline.

This whole thing is a huge mess. Hopefully they have an automated system, since they didn't ask for specific policy information.

That being said, in the grand scheme of things, a quarter of taxation at 0.58% should be a drop in the bucket for most of us. But yeah, whoever wrote that law shouldn't be allowed to do that ever again.
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willthrill81
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by willthrill81 »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:03 pm That being said, in the grand scheme of things, a quarter of taxation at 0.58% should be a drop in the bucket for most of us.
I know that you must be joking since many here will move mountains to get 5 basis points more on their savings account balance.
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pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

willthrill81 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:14 pm
pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:03 pm That being said, in the grand scheme of things, a quarter of taxation at 0.58% should be a drop in the bucket for most of us.
I know that you must be joking since many here will move mountains to get 5 basis points more on their savings account balance.
😂
Bmac
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Bmac »

Well the exemption website remains down. Completely imploded in just a few hours of the first day rollout. I’m not sure if it is more of an IT failure or an indication of the unpopularity of the tax. Also, for a state that knows it has a comparatively regressive tax system, this ultimately seems like it will be a tax that impacts lower income folks more than higher income (simply by who does and does not get an exemption). But regardless, quite an epic fail on day one.
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

Bmac wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:07 pm Well the exemption website remains down. Completely imploded in just a few hours of the first day rollout.
Took 2 hours to take it down. They opened it at 9am, closed it a little before 11am. In between, it was very slow and required quite a few refreshes.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

oakleyram wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:16 am Ok I submitted the application. Was pretty easy, made an account, uploaded photo of ID. They didn't ask for insurance documentation, I guess they have some way to look it up?
They don't have any way of looking up your LTC insurance policy information.
They have yet to make any rules regarding verification of ownership of long-term care insurance.
They will probably be hashed out in the next legislative session.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

willthrill81 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:19 am
oakleyram wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:16 am Ok I submitted the application. Was pretty easy, made an account, uploaded photo of ID. They didn't ask for insurance documentation, I guess they have some way to look it up?
I believe that they can contact your insurer to verify coverage. But the key word there is 'can'. From what I've heard, the ESD does not have the resources to check on everyone's policy anytime soon. It could take them years to do so even if they attempt it.
The ESD doesn't have the resources AND they have not yet made the rules regarding verification of ownership of long-term care insurance.
The rules will probably be hashed out in the next legislative session.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

intendi wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:31 am Got the application in as well. I had my insurance info all ready and was wondering if I had missed the section to enter it. Went back in to check and the system is predictably down now.
They are not asking for insurance information yet.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

simpletone wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:45 am I was able to setup an account, and upload my ID. I was also not asked to upload a copy of my policy which I thought was strange. I sent a follow up email to the address listed on the site, to see if they would need a copy of my policy.
They have yet to make any rules regarding verification of ownership of long-term care insurance.
They will probably be hashed out in the next legislative session.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

czaj wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:16 pm
I assumed they would auto-approve a lot of these exemptions as long as they got a hit when checking their LTCi database. I could be wrong, but I doubt they would manually approve each exemption.
1) There is no "LTCi database"
2) They are NOT manually approving exemptions.
3) The exemptions are auto-approved based solely upon your proof of age and your attestation that you own long-term care insurance and purchased it before November 1st, 2021.

At some point they will likely verify if the opt-outs really do own long-term care insurance. But they have not yet made any rules regarding verification of ownership of long-term care insurance. Those rules will probably be worked out in the next legislative session.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

intendi wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:21 pm I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I honestly don't know if I would have acted on this in time given the relative paucity of news coverage and the fact that my employer didn't say word one about it. There has to be a lot of people in the dark about this still.
Imagine the outcry when they see the first deductions in January.
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
pasadena
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by pasadena »

WoW2012 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:20 pm
intendi wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:21 pm I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I honestly don't know if I would have acted on this in time given the relative paucity of news coverage and the fact that my employer didn't say word one about it. There has to be a lot of people in the dark about this still.
Imagine the outcry when they see the first deductions in January.
An amazingly high number of people never take a look at their paystubs and have no idea what deductions or taxes they're paying.
tiredinsomniac
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by tiredinsomniac »

PSA: It's back up (even though https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/apply-for-an-exemption/ says it's still down). I just registered my wife and I successfully (and it went fast).
Last edited by tiredinsomniac on Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Whakamole
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Whakamole »

pasadena wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:23 pm
WoW2012 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:20 pm
intendi wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:21 pm I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I honestly don't know if I would have acted on this in time given the relative paucity of news coverage and the fact that my employer didn't say word one about it. There has to be a lot of people in the dark about this still.
Imagine the outcry when they see the first deductions in January.
An amazingly high number of people never take a look at their paystubs and have no idea what deductions or taxes they're paying.
They will notice the pay cut.
Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

The WA Cares Exemption Account creation option is back online and I was able to create the account. Since I'm still waiting for LTCi, I won't apply for exemption just yet.
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Bmac »

Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:55 pm The WA Cares Exemption Account creation option is back online and I was able to create the account. Since I'm still waiting for LTCi, I won't apply for exemption just yet.
Can confirm. Accounts created and exemption application submitted.
Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

Bmac wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:10 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:55 pm The WA Cares Exemption Account creation option is back online and I was able to create the account. Since I'm still waiting for LTCi, I won't apply for exemption just yet.
Can confirm. Accounts created and exemption application submitted.
Do you know if there's any downside to creating other accounts by accident? I was cluelessly clicking earlier and created a Benefit Account and I don't see any way to delete this.
Bmac
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Bmac »

I did too. I doubt it. As long as you don’t actually apply for any benefits.
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Ben Mathew
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Ben Mathew »

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted the application.
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BruDude
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by BruDude »

I also have to commend everyone that has contributed to this thread. The information shared here was much more comprehensive than anything I saw from insurance companies or agencies. Lots of great analysis and info. That said…what a mess!
Whakamole
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Whakamole »

Still online this morning. Hopefully either the state fixed the issue, or now we aren't all flooding the server on the first day.

It wanted ID, I scanned and uploaded both sides of my driver's license. I imagine a passport would work just as well.
simpletone
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by simpletone »

I received an email this morning that stated the following:

Your WA Cares Fund exemption request status has changed. To view your updated status, log in to your WA Cares Fund exemption account.

We mailed a decision letter to the address you provided, and a copy of the letter will be available in your online account within 48 hours.

I logged into the website and it shows my application status as "approved".
oakleyram
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by oakleyram »

simpletone wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:35 am I received an email this morning that stated the following:

Your WA Cares Fund exemption request status has changed. To view your updated status, log in to your WA Cares Fund exemption account.

We mailed a decision letter to the address you provided, and a copy of the letter will be available in your online account within 48 hours.

I logged into the website and it shows my application status as "approved".
Just was going to post same thing. So I guess it's over now, other than seeing when they'll decide to actually verify insurance status

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Last edited by oakleyram on Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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willthrill81
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by willthrill81 »

simpletone wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:35 am I received an email this morning that stated the following:

Your WA Cares Fund exemption request status has changed. To view your updated status, log in to your WA Cares Fund exemption account.

We mailed a decision letter to the address you provided, and a copy of the letter will be available in your online account within 48 hours.

I logged into the website and it shows my application status as "approved".
Wow, that was fast. I submitted my application this morning, so I hope that I get approved quickly too.
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Marseille07
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by Marseille07 »

This sounds crazy. So anyone with a DL can apply and opt-out? Did we even need to sign up for LTCi? /s
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willthrill81
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by willthrill81 »

Marseille07 wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:45 am This sounds crazy. So anyone with a DL can apply and opt-out? Did we even need to sign up for LTCi? /s
Currently, there is nothing in place to ensure that applicants for the opt-out have LTCi in place. Anyone could opt-out right now, and they may eventually have to pay the tax, but who knows how long that would take. And I don't believe that there would be any penalties for doing so.

Quite a bit of the tax setup across the country is on the honor system.
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WoW2012
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Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

Post by WoW2012 »

willthrill81 wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:47 am
Marseille07 wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:45 am This sounds crazy. So anyone with a DL can apply and opt-out? Did we even need to sign up for LTCi? /s
Currently, there is nothing in place to ensure that applicants for the opt-out have LTCi in place. Anyone could opt-out right now, and they may eventually have to pay the tax, but who knows how long that would take. And I don't believe that there would be any penalties for doing so.
We'll know more by the end of the next legislation session (April, 2022).
Disclaimer: I am a licensed insurance professional and am certified as a long-term care insurance specialist.
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