Yes. Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program became significantly more popular and expensive than initially projected, leading to soaring utilization rates and looming structural deficits.
Here is a breakdown of the cost and premium shifts:
- Rising Premium Rates: When the program launched in 2019, the total premium rate was \(0.40\) per \(\$100\) of wages (\(0.4\%\)). Due to higher-than-expected usage, premiums have been continually adjusted upward, jumping to \(0.92\%\) in 2025 and rising to \(1.13\%\).
- Worker and Employer Burden: The tax is split between workers (who pay roughly \(71.43\%\)) and employers (who pay \(28.57\%\)). The premium is projected to reach the statutory cap of \(1.2\%\) in 2027 and stay there, raising concerns that funds will not keep up with rising benefits and wage growth.
- Deficit Projections: State actuaries warn that without legislative changes to generate more revenue or lower costs, the program could face a deficit of more than \(\$350\) million by 2029.
- State Interventions: The program's financial strain isn't new; state lawmakers already infused \(\$200\) million from the general fund into the paid leave account in 2023 to keep it solvent
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