Have you heard of the Washington Cares Fund?  If you haven't, it's the first state run and funded  Long-Term Services & Supports program. Originally signed in 2019 by Governor Jay Inslee, as of  January 1st, 2025, Washington State Residents who need long-term care may be able to claim benefits (based on needing help with 3 of 10 ADLs) from the state and receive a benefit of up to $100 per day up to a maximum benefit of $36,500. Undoubtedly  for many families these benefits are going to welcomed and helpful.  But, of course, someone has to pay for the program.

The recent stock market run (especially in tech stocks) has been amazing. Despite the high unemployment rate, many investors are enjoying that feeling of increased net worth in both their qualified and non-qualified money.

The last several years have seen major changes in LTC Insurance - leading to what can be referred to as LTC 2.0.  LTC 2.0 means that while the pure protection of traditional LTC insurance is still a popular option, there has been an accompanying growth in Hybrid LTC + Life plans - both in number of policies sold and number of carriers offering these plans. 

The Certification for Long-Term Care has produced a fact sheet, "A Teachable Moment: The Power of Starting a Conversation," to help advisors start conversations with clients about the importance of extended care planning. It offers facts and statistics that emphasize the importance of planning.

Recently I received an email from a Insurance Carrier who sells Linked Life/LTC plans with the headline "What happened to traditional LTC?".  The email started by saying "It wasn't so long age that traditional long-term care (LTC) insurance dominated the market, but now they are barely holding on while linked-benefit products are taking over."  Harsh!

For Financial Professionals that are savvy enough to have a discussion about the impact of a long-term care event one of the most important topics is whether a client should consider long-term care insurance or should instead "self-insure".

Luckily, you aren't going to need years and years of high cost long-term care. But what if you did?

NAIFA-WA is urging changes to a long-term services bill, HB 1323, to protect employees who have purchased long-term care coverage.

Most states require financial professionals to provide consumers with a copy of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners publication “A Shopper’s Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance” before completing an LTC insurance sale.