WA Cares: lifetime premiums vs. the maximum benefit, by wage

What this chart asks

At what wage do a full career's WA Cares premiums exceed the most the program can pay out?

Why it is shown this way

• A line chart shows premiums rising in a straight line with wage while the benefit stays flat, so the crossing points are the break-even wages.
• Two pairs of lines, plain dollars and present value, show that the break-even depends on whether the timing of payments is counted.
• Line charts are interactive on FactHub, so readers can hover to read the exact value at any wage.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

Premiums pass $36,500 at about $157,300

Value: 157300

0.58% x 40 years x $157,300 = $36,500.

Present values cross at about $82,600

Value: 82600

Present value of premiums at 4% equals the present value of the benefit used at 85.

Data and accessibility

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Dataset wa-cares-premiums-vs-benefit, analysis premiums-vs-benefit-by-wage

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

WA Cares premiums over a career compared with the maximum lifetime benefit

1. Washington State Legislature Premium rate and wage base (RCW 50B.04.080, 50B.04.010), benefit unit and lifetime limit (50B.04.010, 50B.04.060), vesting (50B.04.050), portability (50B.04.180) and exemptions (50B.04.053, .055, .085).

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public record (Revised Code of Washington). Statute text is public; linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. The current codified statute governing WA Cares, including 2024 and 2025 amendments. The Legislature that created the program maintains it.

2. Milliman, for the Washington Office of the State Actuary Economic assumptions: ultimate wage growth 3.55% and benefit indexing 2.4%; program features modeled; required premium 0.48% to 0.65%.

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public record (Washington state report). Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Actuarial valuation commissioned by the Office of the State Actuary, which is responsible for the fund's solvency analysis. Milliman is a private actuarial firm under contract; the report states its assumptions and sensitivities.

3. Washington Office of the State Actuary Net investment earned rate (4.4% grading to 4.0%), base-scenario actuarial balance, premium recommendation, and the 2025 law fixing benefit indexing to inflation.

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public record (Washington state report). Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. The state actuary's June 2025 summary of the Milliman valuation and its recommendations to the Pension Funding Council. The office advises on keeping the program solvent.

4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington all-occupation annual wages, May 2025: 10th percentile $38,670; 25th $47,020; median $62,990; mean $83,330; 75th $101,710; 90th $153,630; employment 3,550,970 (series OEUS5300000000000000000{01,04,11,12,13,14,15}).

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Free to redistribute with attribution to BLS.

   Reliability: Government. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, a federal survey of employers. Wages are straight-time gross pay and exclude overtime and nonproduction bonuses.

5. Washington State Employment Security Department Count of approved private-insurance exemptions (480,366 as of Dec. 29, 2022).

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public record. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. ESD administers WA Cares premium collection and exemptions and reports its own application counts.

6. Washington State Legislature Final bill report for SHB 1732 (2022): 18-month delay of premiums to July 1, 2023 and partial benefits for people born before 1968.

   Retrieved October 19, 2026. Public record. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Nonpartisan legislative staff summary of the bill as enacted.

Limitations

• Projection for a hypothetical worker paying 0.58% for 40 years (ages 25-64) at a constant career-average wage; premiums began only in July 2023.
• The maximum benefit is the most a person can receive; about half of people never receive paid long-term care, and many use less than the maximum.
• Present values use the fund's 4.0% assumed return and assume the whole benefit is used at age 85; other assumptions move the present-value break-even between about $55,000 and $124,000 (see the dataset's break-even scenarios).