Overview
The 2026 legislative session will determine state spending priorities for FY 2027, covering the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. This is a short, 60-day session, scheduled to adjourn on March 12, 2026.
This has been an exceptionally challenging session. Lawmakers are confronting significant revenue, tax, and fiscal pressures, and recent budget news out of Olympia has been grim. This is a pivotal moment for long-term care, as the Legislature must be asked to take a clear and definitive stand on Medicaid funding for skilled nursing and assisted living.
WHCA Position on the State Supplemental Operating Budget:
Maintain and protect the skilled nursing and assisted living Medicaid funding adopted in the 2025–27 state operating budget and oppose the Ferguson proposal funding cuts.
WHCA strongly opposes the Ferguson proposal to claw back critical Medicaid funding approved last year, because it would cause significant harm to skilled nursing and assisted living care by forcing providers to operate under Medicaid rates based on 2022 cost data until FY 2028.
The Governor’s proposal effectively claws back nearly $150 million, including the loss of $75 million in federal matching funds, placing assisted living and skilled nursing providers, along with their employees and the vulnerable seniors they serve, at serious risk. WHCA cannot support a budget solution that fills short-term fiscal gaps by cutting critical services that protect Washington’s low-income consumers and their caregivers.
Failure to raise rates to address rising inflation, escalating operating costs, and continued and bargained-for wage increases creates an unsustainable financial reality—particularly for skilled nursing facilities serving older adults with higher and more complex medical needs, and for providers that play a critical role in transitioning patients out of hospitals and into appropriate post-acute and long-term care settings.
The facts are clear for WHCA and its members:
- Medicaid currently underfunds registered nurse and frontline caregiver wages by up to $13 per hour in the long-term care sector.
- Medicaid rates are still based on 2022 wage data and reimburse providers at approximately $5.80 per hour below actual NAC wages and $1.47 per hour below the Seattle minimum wage.
- Skilled nursing facilities accept nearly 50,000 hospital transfers each year, supporting hospital capacity and ensuring continuity of care for medically complex patients.
- Assisted living providers prevent homelessness for approximately 8,000 Medicaid-supported residents across the state.
- At the same time, Washington’s population age 85 and older is projected to quadruple in the coming years.
Failing to fund the scheduled rate update sends a clear message that care for low-income individuals who need skilled nursing and assisted living services is undervalued.
Demand for skilled nursing and assisted living services is growing rapidly, yet the Governor’s proposal ignores the real and immediate concerns facing families across Washington. If providers are forced to reduce services or close because they cannot compete for staff under inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates, the question becomes unavoidable:
Where will Washington’s families turn for care?
How You Can Get Involved
Effective, ongoing advocacy will be vital as we work to instill the importance of rate rebases, LTC parity within the continuum, and work force disruptions. Your voice has been instrumental in providing the lived experience necessary to inform policy decisions. We have heard from you on tours and encourage you to join us as we schedule advocacy training and utilize our Action Center for electronic letter campaigns.
WHCA Government Relations Contacts
- Carma Matti-Jackson, CEO & President
- Lauri St. Ours, Executive Vice President of Government Relations & Communications
- Aidan Swayne, Government Relations Coordinator