Key takeaways:
Long-term care 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 2026, individuals older than 70 can deduct up to $6,200 in long-term care insurance premiums, while those 40 and younger have a deduction limit of $500. To take advantage of this tax break, you must itemize instead of taking the standard deduction.
Generally, the annual sum of all qualified long-term care insurance premiums plus your eligible medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for a tax deduction.
A long-term care insurance policy can help pay for ongoing care that’s not covered by traditional health insurance. The cost of long-term care can consume and even exceed your financial resources. For example, the median price for a semiprivate room in a U.S. nursing home in 2025 was more than $9,000 a month, while a private room was more than $10,000 monthly.
Is long-term care insurance tax deductible?
Often, yes. You may be able to take advantage of some tax relief from the IRS, within limits based on your age, if you pay long-term care insurance premiums.
What is a tax-qualified long-term care policy?
Most long-term care insurance plans are tax-qualified policies that come with tax-free benefits and premiums you can deduct on your personal IRS filings. 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 they exceed 7.5% of an insured person’s adjusted gross income (AGI).
Your insurance carrier 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.
How much does a long-term care insurance policy cost?
Premiums for these plans can be expensive for many people. In 2025, a single 55-year-old woman buying a new long-term care insurance policy paid an annual premium of about $3,750 ($312.50 a month), according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. This is for a benefit of $165,000 that grows at 3% annually.
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. Long-term care can be provided in a facility or home.
If you have a comprehensive long-term care insurance policy, you may be covered for the following services:
Treatment at a resident care facility
Treatment at an alternative care facility
Adult day care
Short-term hospice care
Respite care for caregivers
Temporary care at home or in a facility
If you need home healthcare, your long-term care insurance may cover costs for the following services:
Professional nursing care
Help with daily activities, such as bathing and eating
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 spending to treat, cure, or improve any type of health condition. This includes the inability to care for yourself.
Long-term care insurance premiums are included among IRS-approved expenses. However, based on your age, there are limits on the amount of annual premiums you can deduct. Below are the 2026 deduction caps and 2025 deduction caps for long-term care insurance premiums.
| Age attained by the end of the taxable year | Maximum amount allowed as a medical expense | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2025 | ||
| 40 or younger | $500 | $480 | |
| 41-50 | $930 | $900 | |
| 51-60 | $1,860 | $1,800 | |
| 61-70 | $4,960 | $4,810 | |
| 71 or older | $6,200 | $6,020 | |
Here’s how to calculate how much you can deduct:
First, find the total of all your long-term care and other unreimbursed medical expenses for a year.
Then, add the amount of that year’s long-term care insurance premiums that you are allowed to deduct based on your age.
Finally, determine your AGI. If you itemize deductions, you are able to deduct the amount of long-term care and unreimbursed medical expenses plus long-term care insurance premiums that exceeds 7.5% of your AGI — up to the filing year’s limit for your age.
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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 2025, Jill is allowed to deduct up to $1,800 in unreimbursed medical expenses (according to the above chart), so long as she has enough spending based on her AGI calculation.
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. The rules include 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
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, long-term care insurance premiums, and other qualified medical expenses to determine if you meet the spending requirement based on your AGI.
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. That means you won’t have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw from your account to pay for these premiums. But the amount you can deduct on your taxes depends on the limit for your age category.
Frequently asked questions
One of the biggest drawbacks of long-term care insurance is the cost. Premiums can be expensive, with a policyholder potentially paying thousands of dollars per year. But keep in mind that long-term care, itself, can be more than $6,000 per month and can even exceed $10,000 today — and is expected to become more costly in the future. Premiums typically cost more the older you are when you first buy the insurance. There is also the possibility that you could end up paying for a safety net that you never use, if you don’t end up needing long-term care services.
One of the most overlooked tax breaks involving long-term care insurance costs is the ability to leverage HSA funds — and tax laws — to pay for premiums. Since the IRS lets you use money from an HSA to pay long-term care premiums, if you did so, you would be paying for those premiums with pretax dollars and potentially receiving a break when you file your taxes.
If you itemize rather than take the standard deduction, you may be able to deduct a portion of your long-term care costs from your federal taxes. The long-term care spending must be qualified, meaning the expenses were incurred for care to treat, cure, or improve a health condition. The expenses also must exceed 7.5% of your AGI. When it comes to deducting long-term care premiums, there are limits to how much you can deduct based on your age.
One of the biggest drawbacks of long-term care insurance is the cost. Premiums can be expensive, with a policyholder potentially paying thousands of dollars per year. But keep in mind that long-term care, itself, can be more than $6,000 per month and can even exceed $10,000 today — and is expected to become more costly in the future. Premiums typically cost more the older you are when you first buy the insurance. There is also the possibility that you could end up paying for a safety net that you never use, if you don’t end up needing long-term care services.
One of the most overlooked tax breaks involving long-term care insurance costs is the ability to leverage HSA funds — and tax laws — to pay for premiums. Since the IRS lets you use money from an HSA to pay long-term care premiums, if you did so, you would be paying for those premiums with pretax dollars and potentially receiving a break when you file your taxes.
If you itemize rather than take the standard deduction, you may be able to deduct a portion of your long-term care costs from your federal taxes. The long-term care spending must be qualified, meaning the expenses were incurred for care to treat, cure, or improve a health condition. The expenses also must exceed 7.5% of your AGI. When it comes to deducting long-term care premiums, there are limits to how much you can deduct based on your age.
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 7.5% of your AGI to qualify. There is an exception that allows qualified self-employed individuals to deduct long-term care premiums without itemizing. Consult your financial adviser to learn more about your long-term care insurance costs and how you can deduct some or all of your premiums on your tax return.
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References
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Internal Revenue Service. (2025). 2025: Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040).
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Internal Revenue Service. (2026). Topic no. 502, medical and dental expenses.
National Institute on Aging. (2023). What is long-term care? National Institutes of Health.
