The Kansas Partnership is an asset-protection program
The Kansas Insurance Department calls the Long-Term Care Partnership a public-private cooperative program and states that policies must meet state and federal Partnership requirements. Its brochure explains the core dollar-for-dollar concept: people with a qualifying policy may qualify for Medicaid before spending down all assets, with asset protection tied to benefits paid under the qualifying policy. The brochure itself is state evidence that Kansas maintains a Partnership program (Kansas Partnership brochure).
Partnership status is policy-specific. A policy should be confirmed as qualifying at issue, and the buyer should retain the insurer's certification and any required disclosures. The brochure says qualifying policies must meet state and federal requirements; a generic policy that covers home care or a nursing facility should not be assumed to provide Partnership protection without that confirmation (Kansas Partnership brochure).
New-sale status needs a current insurer check
The official Kansas brochure describes the Partnership program and qualifying purchases, but the public materials reviewed for this page did not provide a current carrier-by-carrier new-sales roster or a statement that the program is closed or legacy-only. That is an honest reason to ask the Kansas Insurance Department and a licensed producer whether a currently offered policy is a qualifying Kansas Partnership policy before making a purchase decision (Kansas Partnership brochure).
Kansas estate recovery adds another reason to obtain documentation. K.S.A. 39-709 states that the monetary value of long-term-care insurance benefits is a credit against the amount of a medical-assistance recovery claim. The exact credit and its application should be confirmed for the policy and claim at issue rather than assumed from a broad description of “asset protection” (K.S.A. 39-709).
Regulator: Kansas Insurance Department.
Partnership: an official state program for policies meeting state and federal requirements; verify current new-sale availability and the policy's certification directly (
Kansas Partnership brochure).
Compare the policy with the care plan
Insurance can fund care and potentially reduce later dependence on Medicaid, but it does not replace a benefits or estate-recovery analysis. Compare a policy's benefits with the household's preferred setting, projected care hours, premium affordability, and Kansas Medicaid plan before relying on it.
Federal Tax Incentives for LTC Insurance Premiums (2026)
Beyond any state-level benefit, a tax-qualified LTC insurance contract (one meeting IRC § 7702B)
carries several federal tax benefits, and a number of the relevant limits increased for 2026:
- Age-based premium deduction: eligible premiums count as a medical expense on
Schedule A (to the extent total unreimbursed medical expenses exceed 7.5% of AGI), up to 2026 limits
of $500 (age 40 or younger), $930 (41–50), $1,860 (51–60), $4,960 (61–70), and $6,200
(over 70) — all increased from 2025 (IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, § 4.27).
- Self-employed and business deductions: self-employed individuals can deduct 100%
of eligible premiums up to the same age-based limits without itemizing, and C-corporations can generally
deduct LTC premiums paid for employees as an ordinary business expense under IRC § 162, uncapped by
the individual age-based limits.
- Tax-free benefits: benefits from a tax-qualified contract are generally excluded
from income under IRC § 7702B(d); per-diem/indemnity contracts are tax-free up to $430/day (about
$13,079/month) for 2026 (IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, § 4.62).
- HSA-funded premiums: HSA funds can be withdrawn tax-free to pay eligible LTC
premiums, up to the same age-based limits above.
- New for 2026 — penalty-free retirement withdrawals: SECURE 2.0 Act § 334
lets eligible 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) participants under 59½ withdraw funds to pay
premiums on a certified LTC contract without the usual 10% early-withdrawal penalty, up to the least of
the actual premium paid, 10% of the vested account balance, or a statutory cap of $2,600 for 2026. The
distribution itself is still fully taxable as ordinary income and is not available from IRAs
(IRS Notice 2026-33).
Kansas state incentive: Kansas offers no separate state credit or deduction for LTC insurance premiums beyond the federal incentives above (
Got LTCi, State Tax Incentives).
State tax rules change frequently and the credit/deduction summary above is not exhaustive —
confirm current eligibility, forms, and amounts with your state department of revenue or a tax
professional before relying on any figure here.
Not mutually exclusive. Most families combine two or three funding pillars — this one rarely stands alone.
The
Journey Assessment ranks all ten pillars against your specific situation and
recommends the top three.
