WA Cares pays a lifetime maximum of $36,500. A year of home care in Washington costs $100,669 and a nursing home $149,022, so the benefit covers roughly four months of help at home, or under three months in a facility. It is also less portable than most people assume. Benefits are payable only in Washington unless you have contributed for at least three years and elect to keep participating when you leave, and even then out-of-state payments do not begin until July 2030. Private coverage is what pays for the years after the state benefit runs out.

Often not. Many policies bought before the December 2022 deadline were chosen to clear the exemption threshold at the lowest premium rather than to fund a real claim. Three things are worth checking: the monthly benefit against what care costs in your area now, whether that benefit grows with inflation, and how long it lasts. You also have a decision open to you that nobody else has. Exemptions granted before 2023 can be discontinued between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2028, which means rejoining WA Cares and paying the 0.58 percent again. Whether that makes sense depends on what your existing policy actually covers.

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In 2026 a private nursing home room averages $149,022 a year statewide, assisted living $87,037, and a home health aide at 44 hours a week $100,669. Where you live moves those numbers sharply. Nursing home care runs $191,260 in the Vancouver area against $119,049 around Clarkston, a spread of more than $72,000 a year for the same service. The table above lists all 13 regions.

Most buyers insure the gap rather than the whole bill, since Social Security, a pension and investment income keep arriving while care is being paid for. Start with the cost in your region, subtract the income you would still have coming in, and insure what remains. WA Cares is not much of an offset here, because $36,500 spread across a claim that usually runs years barely registers. Two choices matter as much as the monthly benefit: how long it lasts, and whether it grows with inflation.

Yes, and the decision belongs to the carrier rather than the state. Washington sets no health criteria of its own, and standards vary enough between companies that a decline from one is not a decline from all. Cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia are turned down almost everywhere, as is an existing need for help with bathing, dressing or walking. Managed conditions are approved routinely. Because a declined application leaves a record other carriers can see, a prescreening through an agency representing several companies is worth doing first.

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That depends on the structure. Traditional long-term care premiums can be adjusted, though never for one policyholder alone. A carrier must apply to change rates for an entire class of policies, and Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner has to approve the request before anything takes effect. Hybrid life policies and long-term care annuities carry contractually guaranteed premiums that cannot be increased by the insurer, which is why buyers who value certainty over price often choose them.

It protects assets dollar for dollar, and that matters more here than in most states. Washington recovers from more than the probate estate, reaching jointly held property, payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death deeds and living trusts once someone aged 55 or older has received long-term care. The arrangements families usually rely on to shelter a house do not work in Washington. A Partnership policy is one of the few things that does, and inflation protection is what makes a policy qualify.

See our Long-Term Care Partnership Guide ➤