Can You Deduct Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums on Your Taxes?
Key takeaways:
Long-term care health insurance premiums may be deductible on your tax return — up to a certain limit — based on the insured person’s age and adjusted gross income.
For 2025, individuals over age 70 can deduct up to $6,020 in long-term care insurance premiums, while those under 40 have a deduction limit of $480. To take advantage of this, you must itemize instead of taking the standard deduction.
Generally, the total of all qualified long-term care insurance premiums plus eligible medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for a deduction.
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The cost of long-term care can be staggering. For example, the monthly cost for a semiprivate room in a nursing home can be around $8,669. A private room in a nursing home can cost an average of $9,733 per month.
A long-term care insurance policy can help cover these costs. However, the premiums for these policies can be expensive. A 55-year-old female can expect to pay an average of $3,700 per year for a long-term care insurance policy. This is for a benefit of $165,000 that grows at 3% annually.
Fortunately, you may be able to take advantage of tax relief from the IRS if you pay long-term care insurance premiums.
Your expenses may qualify for tax deductions if they’re medically necessary. Here’s a list of tax-deductible healthcare costs, including vision and dental care.
Are gym memberships tax deductible? The IRS generally does not consider gym memberships tax-deductible medical expenses, but you may have other options to save money.
Can you deduct Medicare premiums on your taxes? Review the requirements to deduct Medicare premiums, and see if you qualify.
What is a tax-qualified long-term care policy?
Most long-term care policies are tax-qualified policies. These policies come with tax-free benefits and deductible premiums. This means that people who are insured are generally not taxed on the benefits that they receive from these policies. Also, the premiums can be deductible as unreimbursed medical expenses if the insured meets the adjusted gross income (AGI) threshold.
Your insurer can tell you whether your long-term care policy is tax qualified or not. The rules for deductibility and tax-free benefits can differ by state. Check with your tax adviser to confirm the rules for your state.
What expenses does long-term care insurance cover?
Long-term care consists of any type of daily living care administered for an extended period of time, such as more than 90 days.
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If you have a comprehensive long-term care insurance policy, you may be covered for the following services:
Treatment at resident care facility
Treatment at alternative care facility
Adult day care
Short-term hospice care
Temporary care
If you need home healthcare, your long-term care insurance may cover costs for the following services:
Professional nursing care
Help with day-to-day activities (such as bathing or brushing teeth)
How do you deduct the cost of long-term care on your tax return?
You may be eligible to deduct qualified long-term care expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI. Qualified expenses include any expenses to treat, cure, or improve any type of health condition. This includes the inability to care for yourself.
Long-term care insurance premiums fall on the list of IRS-approved expenses. However, there are limits, based on your age, on the amount of annual premiums you can deduct. Below are the 2025 and 2024 deduction limits for long-term care insurance premiums.
| Age attained before the end of the taxable year | Amount allowed as a medical expense | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
| 40 under | $480 | $470 | |
| 41-50 | $900 | $880 | |
| 51-60 | $1,800 | $1,760 | |
| 61-70 | $4,810 | $4,710 | |
| 71 or older | $6,020 | $5,880 | |
Here’s how to calculate how much you can deduct:
First, add all your long-term care expenses.
Then, add the amount of long-term care insurance premiums you are allowed to deduct based on your age.
Finally, compare your total expenses to the AGI threshold. If you itemize deductions, you are able to deduct the amount of expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your AGI.
For example: Let’s say Jill is single and 55 years old. Her unreimbursed medical expenses — including long-term care premiums — total $6,000.
She pays $362 per month for her long-term care policy. This is $4,344 for the year.
For 2024, Jill is allowed to deduct $1,760 as unreimbursed medical expenses (according to the above chart), so long as she meets the AGI threshold.
If her AGI is $60,000, she can deduct any unreimbursed medical expenses in excess of $4,500 ($60,000 x 7.5%), assuming she is able to itemize deductions.
Jill is able to deduct $1,500 ($6,000 - $4,500) on her tax return.
If you are self-employed, you may be eligible to deduct your long-term care insurance premiums on your tax return without itemizing. This is done on Page 1 of Form 1040. This deduction reduces your adjusted gross income, which is a key number used to determine eligibility for many credits and deductions.
You must meet certain criteria to qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction. This includes reporting a net profit in your business and not being covered under an employer health plan.
What other long-term care expenses can you deduct?
You can deduct qualified long-term care expenses, such as nursing home care, on your tax return. But you may have other itemized deductions if you receive long-term care, such as the cost of:
Capital expenses, such as for installing railings, support bars, and lifts
Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic imaging (MRI) scans
Lab fees
Lodging and meals
Surgeries
Transportation to a medical facility
Wheelchairs
Wigs
What percentage of nursing home care is tax deductible?
Nursing home care expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI are deductible as long as you can itemize. You can add in other long-term care expenses, insurance premiums, and qualified medical expenses to determine if you meet the AGI threshold.
Can you pay for long-term care insurance with an HSA or FSA?
Typically, your health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) can’t be used to pay for regular health insurance premiums. However, long-term care insurance is an exception to the rule when it comes to HSAs. The IRS allows you to use your pretax dollars in your HSA to pay for long-term care insurance, up to the age limits. That means you won’t have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw from your account to pay for these expenses.
The bottom line
Long-term care insurance premiums can be costly. The IRS allows qualified taxpayers to deduct a portion of their long-term care insurance premiums on their tax returns based on their age. Generally, you must itemize deductions and have expenses that exceed the AGI threshold to qualify. There is an exception for qualified self-employed individuals. Consult your financial adviser to learn more about your long-term care insurance policy and how you can deduct it on your tax return.
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References
American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. (2022). Long-term care insurance facts - data - statistics - 2022 reports.
Genworth. (2023). Calculate the cost of long-term care near you. CareScout.
InformedHealth.org. (2025). In brief: What is speech therapy? Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.
Internal Revenue Service. (2023). Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2023-48.
Internal Revenue Service. (2024). 2024: Instructions for Schedule A.
Internal Revenue Service. (2024). Publication 502: Medical and dental expenses.
Internal Revenue Service. (2024). Part III: Administrative, procedural, and miscellaneous: Rev. proc. 2024-40.
Internal Revenue Service. (2024). Topic no. 502, medical and dental expenses.
Internal Revenue Service. (2025). Definition of adjusted gross income.
Internal Revenue Service. (2025). Publication 969 (2024), health savings accounts and other tax-favored health plans.
National Institute of Aging. (2023). What is long-term care? National Institutes of Health.
This article is solely for informational purposes. This article is not professional advice concerning insurance, financial, accounting, tax, or legal matters. All content herein is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Always consult an appropriate professional when you have specific questions about any insurance, financial, or legal matter.
