(Effective until July 1, 2025.) (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the employment security department shall deem a person to be a qualified individual as provided in this chapter if the person has paid the long-term services and supports premiums required by RCW 50B.04.080 for the equivalent of either: (a) A total of ten years without interruption of five or more consecutive years; or (b) Three years within the last six years from the date of application for benefits. (2) A person born before January 1, 1968, who has not met the duration requirements under subsection (1)(a) of this section may become a qualified individual with fewer than the number of years identified in subsection (1)(a) of this section if the person has paid the long-term services and supports premiums required by RCW 50B.04.080 for at least one year. A person becoming a qualified individual pursuant to this subsection (2) may receive one-tenth of the maximum number of benefit units available under RCW 50B.04.060(3)(b) for each year of premium payments. In accordance with RCW 50B.04.060, benefits will not be available until July 1, 2026, and nothing in this section requires the department of social and health services to accept applications for determining an individual's status as an eligible beneficiary prior to July 1, 2026. Nothing in this subsection (2) prohibits a person born before January 1, 1968, who meets the conditions of subsection (1)(b) of this section from receiving the maximum number of benefit units available under RCW 50B.04.060(3)(b). (3) When deeming a person to be a qualified individual, the employment security department shall require that the person have worked at least five hundred hours during each of the ten years in subsection (1)(a) of this section, each of the three years in subsection (1)(b) of this section, or each of the years identified in subsection (2) of this section. (4) An exempt employee may never be deemed to be a qualified individual, unless the employee's exemption was discontinued under RCW 50B.04.055. [ 2022 c 2 s 3; 2022 c 1 s 3; 2021 c 113 s 4; 2020 c 98 s 3; 2019 c 363 s 6.]
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