If you or a family member owns a long-term care insurance policy, part of that premium may qualify as a deductible medical expense on your federal tax return. The catch is that the deduction is capped by your age, and the cap changes every year.
How the Long-Term Care Insurance Premium Tax Deduction Works
The IRS treats premiums for a qualified long-term care insurance policy as a medical expense under Section 213 of the tax code, but only up to an age-based dollar limit, and only if your total unreimbursed medical expenses for the year exceed a set percentage of your adjusted gross income. Historically that threshold has been 7.5% to 10% of AGI depending on the tax year, so this deduction tends to matter most for people already carrying significant medical costs, not as a stand-alone tax break.
The dollar limit itself is banded by your age at the end of the tax year. The older you are, the higher the amount you’re allowed to deduct. The IRS republishes this table every year through a Revenue Procedure, and the limits typically increase slightly to keep pace with inflation.
What Counts as a Qualified Long-Term Care Policy
Not every long-term care policy qualifies. To count, a policy generally has to only pay benefits for qualified long-term care services (help with activities of daily living or care needed due to a severe cognitive impairment); not pay for expenses reimbursed by Medicare, except as a secondary payer; be guaranteed renewable; and include inflation protection and nonforfeiture benefit options for policies issued after January 1, 1997 (you can decline these options, but the policy has to offer them). Older, pre-1997 policies can still qualify if they met the state requirements in place when they were issued.
If a policy also pays a fixed daily or “indemnity” benefit rather than reimbursing actual expenses, there’s a separate cap on how much of that daily benefit is excluded from your taxable income. The IRS updates that number annually as well.
2026 Long-Term Care Insurance Premium Deduction Limits
The IRS updates these age-banded limits every year under Revenue Procedure guidance. Here are the confirmed limits for 2026: age 40 or younger, $500; age 41-50, $930; age 51-60, $1,860; age 61-70, $4,960; over age 70, $6,200.
These figures come directly from the IRS’s 2026 Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Section 4.27). Because they’re adjusted for inflation annually, confirm the current year’s table before relying on this page if you’re reading it well after 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
For 2026, the IRS caps the deduction at $500 if you’re 40 or younger, up to $6,200 if you’re over 70, with three brackets in between. The exact amount also depends on your total medical expenses relative to your income, since the deduction only applies above a set percentage-of-income threshold. These limits change annually, so confirm the current year’s figures if you’re reading this later.
Yes. The long-term care premium deduction is claimed as part of your itemized medical expense deduction, so it only helps if your itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction.
If your employer pays the premium and it’s excluded from your taxable wages, you generally can’t also deduct it. If you pay some or all of the premium yourself on an employer-sponsored qualified policy, that portion may qualify.
Those “indemnity” or per diem policies have their own annual IRS cap on how much of the daily benefit is tax-free. Amounts above that cap (and above your actual long-term care costs, whichever is greater) may be taxable income.
Yes. Long-term care costs are one of the biggest threats to an otherwise well-built estate plan, and insurance is only one piece of protection against them. It’s worth discussing alongside your overall Medicaid and elder law planning.
Talk to a Louisiana Elder Law Attorney About Long-Term Care Planning
Tax deductions are only one small piece of long-term care planning. Legacy Estate & Elder Law of Louisiana helps families across Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles build long-term care into a complete Medicaid planning and estate plan with experienced elder law guidance. Call 225-744-0027 to schedule a free consultation.
