Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Thursday delaying the WA Cares payroll tax on employees in Washington for 18 months. If you have started deducting the WA Cares payroll tax, you will want to stop and refund employees the tax taken out so far. A summary of the law that passed is available at: https://app.leg.wa.gov A news report is available at www.king5.com In addition to postponing the tax by 18 months, the new law allows certain disabled veterans, temporary non-immigrant workers, spouses of active duty military, and residents of border states who work in WA to opt-out of the tax. The law that passed does not change anything about private insurance opt-out. As the law stands now, those who purchased private LTC insurance prior to Nov 1, 2021 and have been approved for opt-out will be able to maintain their opt-out and no additional private insurance opt-out opportunities have been added. If you have purchased a private LTC plan to opt-out of the LTC tax, we recommend keeping private plan in place to maintain your opt-out status for the time being. We will continue to keep you informed on future developments. Sincerely, Dave Maddock President P (800) 875-4490 dave@maddockinsurance.com |
News
May Compliance Webinar: ARPA 2021: COBRA Subsidies & Model Notices
In this month’s webinar, the Benefits attorneys of Maynard, Cooper & Gale will review compliance considerations surrounding the required COBRA subsidies under The American Rescue Plan Act, including new guidance and model notices from the Department of Labor.
(Pre-approved for 1 SHRM credit hour. Pending approval for HRCI credit.)
| Tuesday, May 4th @ 8am PDT, 9am MDT, 10am CDT, 11am EDT Click on the Link to Register: https://cc.readytalk.com/registration/#/?meeting=6ywdgi1rr6ky&campaign=e6b52ijujmqp |
A recording will be available following the live webinar.
LTC Plan Important Announcement
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Since the recording of our April 6th LTC webinar, the deadline to have an LTC policy in place to qualify for the opt-out has been pushed back from July 24, 2021 to November 1, 2021. We are finding the following people are most likely to benefit from purchasing their own LTC plan and opting out of the WA State plan/tax.
- People with high W2 wages (over $70,000/year)
- People retiring within the next 5-10 years
- People who plan on living outside of WA State when they retire
| A recording of the webinar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvSml_EszNg If you are interested in learning more about opt-out policies, please email me and I will get you in touch with our Long Term Care specialists. |
April 6th Webinar Recording-ARPA 2021 What Employers Need to Know
I hope you are doing well. Below is a link to the recording of our webinar from April 6th Recording: ARPA 2021: What Employers Need to Know
https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/playback/Playback.do?id=fjnnjm
Attached are the power point slides for the webinar. The HRCI and SHRM info is also attached.
Our next webinar is Tuesday, May 4th at 8:00 am PST. Please keep an eye out for an invitation.
WA State Long Term Care Webinar
Are you interested in permanently opting out of a tax for the rest of your life?
WA State is implementing a mandatory Long Term Care payroll tax and insurance program that will start January 1st. A good summary is here: https://bit.ly/3u6aEaV
Maddock & Associates partnered with WA States leading Long Term Care broker LTC Associates to sponsor a webinar April 6th at 12pm.
A recording of this webinar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvSml_EszNg
During the webinar you will learn about the new tax, benefits, and important information about ways you may be able to opt out of the program.
To opt out of the program, those interested will need to take action no later than this July (exact date tbd). This appears to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to opt out of a tax and benefit. During the webinar, Gary Forman of LTC Associates will explain how the opt-out will work, who will want to take advantage of it, and how to apply.
The new LTC program will provide a minimal long term care benefit that many people do not currently have. However, we are finding that many who value good LTC coverage or who are high income earners will choose to either opt out of the State run program or purchase a policy to help supplement the State program.
If you are interested in learning more about opt-out policies, please email me and I will get you in touch with our Long Term Care specialists.
We look forward to seeing you on the webinar!