In a statement on Friday, December 17, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that employers may wait to begin collecting premiums from employees for the new Washington Cares Act (WA Cares), while legislation is under consideration to formalize this collection pause. The governor does not have authority to formally relieve employers from the existing withholding obligation, but has directed that "employers will not be subject to penalties and interest for not withholding fees from employees during this transition."
As a brief reminder, not long ago in April 2021, Governor Inslee signed into effect the WA Cares Act, establishing a first-of-its-kind mandatory, public, state-run long-term care insurance program for Washington workers.1 The WA Cares Act had a rapidly approaching start date of January 1, 2022—when Washington employers were to begin withholding mandatory employee premiums to fund the program.
Now—just eight months later and two weeks before the start date—both Governor Inslee and legislators acknowledge that there are areas where the WA Cares Act needs to be changed, and say that the legislature will be working on such changes during the legislative session that opens in January 2022. Some of the issues with the law as currently written that will likely be addressed are: the ability of employees to opt-out of the program; how the law impacts near retirees who would contribute but not vest in the program; and how the law impacts Washington-based employees...
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced charges against 15 people, including six medical professionals, for allegedly participating in schemes that collectively submitted $2 billion i...