$20M in long-term care money for WA immigrants to cover fewer than 200 people

Washington state lawmakers this year approved spending nearly $20 million to ensure immigrants here could retain long-term care insurance coverage they’re set to lose under federal law. Legislators and advocates thought that money would put the state on a path to cover nearly 1,200 lawfully present noncitizens. It turns out that it’ll only be enough for 173. That’s according to Adam Glickman, secretary-treasurer for Service Employees International Union 775, the caregivers’ union, which pushed hard for the funding. The revelation, based on changing assumptions from federal guidance, was “disappointing and frustrating,” Glickman said. “It puts individuals and families in really...