The Everett Herald: Bill will help families, seniors save for long-term care March 2, 2017
The Everett Herald Opinion-Editorial:
Today, 142,000 Snohomish County citizens are age 60-plus. The census projects that number will increase to 300,000 by 2030, just 14 years away. A growing number of our older community members will need long-term care, but options now are limited or unaffordable for many. Medicare or private health insurance do not cover these expenses. Many seniors exhaust their life savings for these services and many don’t have family to help. This experience creates financial and emotional damage and pain.
The aging of the boomers will challenge the current ways available to fund long term care. A better option is being considered by in Legislature.
The Long-term Care Trust Act (HB 1636), a bipartisan bill, would create a long-term care (LTC) benefit to pay for care without leaving seniors depleted of savings and assets. This bill will provide a mechanism where workers would pay 0.49 percent of their salary into a LTC trust. Seniors would have access to this benefit that would contribute to their LTC costs.