This bill adds a new section to chapter 50B.04 RCW that allows a “qualified individual” under the long-term services and supports trust program to elect to transfer any or all of their available benefit units to their spouse. Transfers are permitted in two situations: (a) the receiving spouse does not meet the criteria to be a qualified individual under RCW 50B.04.050 but, after an evaluation, is determined to meet the functional criteria to become an eligible beneficiary under RCW 50B.04.060; or (b) the receiving spouse already meets the qualified individual criteria, is found after an evaluation to meet the functional criteria under RCW 50B.04.060, and has exhausted the benefit units available to them under the program. Amounts transferred are deducted from the transferring qualified individual’s available benefit units. This is a statutory addition to the existing chapter (a procedural change to benefit administration), not a criminal or penalty change. The provision requires an evaluation to determine whether the receiving spouse meets the referenced functional criteria and relies on definitions and standards in RCW 50B.04.050 and RCW 50B.04.060, which are not included in the extracted text. The bill was prefiled 12/10/2024 and read for the first time 01/13/2025; no effective date, administrative procedures, evaluator identity, timing, definitions for terms like “spouse” or “available benefit units,” limits, reversibility, or enforcement mechanisms are provided in the available excerpts.

If enacted, people enrolled as qualified individuals in the long-term services and supports trust program would be able to give some or all of their remaining benefit units to a spouse so that the spouse can use those units for care when the spouse meets the program’s functional-need standards or, if already a qualified individual, has used up their own units. That expands practical access to benefits for spouses who need care but means the transferring person will have fewer or no benefit units left for their own future needs. The bill requires an evaluation under the program’s existing functional criteria before a transfer, but it does not say who performs evaluations, how quickly they must happen, what counts as a spouse, or whether transfers can be reversed, so administrators and families will face uncertainty about procedures, timing, and limits; this uncertainty could create delays or planning risks for people deciding whether to transfer units.