The Long-Term Care Partnership Program is a joint federal-state initiative that offers a powerful incentive for purchasing qualifying long-term care insurance — the ability to protect additional assets from Medicaid spend-down requirements. If you’ve ever worried about needing Medicaid after exhausting your LTC policy, the Partnership Program may eliminate that concern.
What Is the Long-Term Care Partnership Program?
Authorized under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the LTC Partnership Program allows individuals who purchase a qualifying long-term care policy to protect assets equal to the benefits paid by their policy — dollar for dollar — if they later need to apply for Medicaid.
Without a Partnership policy, Medicaid generally requires you to spend down nearly all of your assets before it will pay for long-term care. With a Partnership policy, every dollar your insurance pays out is a dollar of assets you can keep — even when applying for Medicaid.
How the Dollar-for-Dollar Asset Protection Works
Which States Participate?
The Partnership Program is available in most U.S. states. All participating states must offer reciprocity — meaning if you bought a Partnership policy in one state but later move to another participating state, your asset protection travels with you.
As of 2024, over 40 states participate in the Partnership Program. A few states — including California — have their own separate Partnership programs with different rules. We can confirm your state’s participation and program details when we provide your quote.
Requirements for a Qualifying Partnership Policy
To qualify for Partnership asset protection, a policy must meet specific standards set by your state, which generally include:
Inflation Protection Required
Partnership policies must include inflation protection — the specific type varies by age at purchase. Buyers under 61 typically require compound inflation; older buyers may qualify with simple inflation or a future purchase option.
Tax-Qualified Status
The policy must be a tax-qualified long-term care policy under federal guidelines (IRC Section 7702B), requiring two-of-six ADL or cognitive impairment triggers.
State Approval
The policy must be approved by your state’s insurance department as a Partnership-qualified product. Carriers that offer Partnership policies have their products individually certified by each participating state.
Issued to a Resident
The policy must be issued while you are a resident of a participating state. Reciprocity provisions allow the protection to travel if you move to another participating state after purchase.
Is the Partnership Program Right for You?
The LTC Partnership Program is particularly valuable for individuals with moderate assets — those who have too much to easily qualify for Medicaid but not enough that a major care event would be financially manageable. It effectively creates a floor under your assets, ensuring that purchasing LTC insurance and using its benefits does not leave you worse off when it comes to Medicaid eligibility.
Because Partnership policies require inflation protection, they tend to be excellent policies overall — the Partnership requirement essentially mandates one of the most important policy features. In most cases, a Partnership-qualified policy is the recommended choice for any buyer in a participating state.
Get a Free Long-Term Care Quote
We can confirm whether your state participates and help you find a Partnership-qualified policy from top carriers. Call 1-888-972-0024 or request a quote online.