Our December 7, 2021 posting discussed an attempt by the state of Washington to reduce the stresses on their Medicaid program being caused by long term care costs.  The article outlined the WA Cares Fund which is a mandatory tax of 0.58% on W-2 wage earners in the Evergreen state.  The program, which was designed to seed a Long-Term Care benefit for its contributors, was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2022.  The blog credited the state of Washington with attempting to address a serious societal problem, but at the same time, pointed out its many shortcomings. 

Our most recent posting discussed the looming long term care crisis within our society. This article noted that due to our collective failures to plan, Medicaid has become the default provider and pays for more than 50% of the needed care for America’s elderly and disabled. Medicaid is a federal program which is administered by the individual states, so not surprisingly, this current situation has created enormous strains on state budgets. The state of Washington has initiated the “WA Cares Fund” in an attempt to address the problem. It was rejected twice by voters but came into being via action by the state legislature.

It is annual enrollment time for most employer sponsored group health insurance plans. High deductible health insurance plans (HDHP) are offered to many people and it is very common to wonder, “Is an HDHP right for me and/or my family?”

Insurance policies are issued to individuals, but also to corporations, trusts, partnerships and other legal entities. There are some noteworthy differences between group and individual policies that may be significant to our readers. While several types of organizations could purchase a group insurance policy, we’ll restrict our discussion to employer-based group policies

This is a common question and certainly varies with individual circumstances. The most common purpose for owning life insurance is to protect those that depend on one’s income. With that in mind, a potential purchaser might be able to estimate the coverage needed, but it is noteworthy that life insurance is also used for other purposes. Businesses often incorporate life insurance into buy-sell agreements between owners or to protect against the untimely death of a key person. Estate plans for wealthy households often utilize life insurance policies to provide liquidity after the death of the insured. Needless to say, knowledgeable, licensed life insurance agents can be a good source for recommendations, particularly in these special applications.