A year from now, Washington will launch the nation’s first full-scale effort to help the state’s workforce afford long-term care and services as they age.

Etched into law in 2019, the public long-term care insurance program known as WA Cares survived an attempt to torpedo it at the ballot box last year. Already, $2 billion in tax collections have been banked in the program’s trust fund through the end of March.

Lawmakers continue to fine-tune the program ahead of its rollout next summer.

This past legislative session brought revisions intended to welcome back thousands of people who opted out of the program and to unite the state-run, worker-funded entitlement with private long-term care insurers.

“It’s a test case for the nation. It’s going to be amazing when we roll it out,” said Cat

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