Long-term care insurance premiums: the 2026 tax deduction
Enter your age at the end of 2026, the premium you pay and your income, and choose how you would deduct it. The premium that counts and the federal tax it saves appear at once.
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Federal tax saved by the premium
$0
$3,000 of the premium counts, limit $4,960 at age 62
| 2026 limit for your age | $4,960 |
| Premium that counts | $3,000 |
| Medical expenses ignored (7.5% of income) | $6,000 |
| Itemizing beats the standard deduction | no |
| Your marginal federal rate | 22% |
Only a qualified (tax-qualified) long-term care contract counts. Federal income tax only.
| Age at the end of the year | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 or under | $480 | $500 |
| 41 to 50 | $900 | $930 |
| 51 to 60 | $1,800 | $1,860 |
| 61 to 70 | $4,810 | $4,960 |
| 71 or over | $6,020 | $6,200 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · IRS rules and BLS plan data read November 7, 2026
A qualified long-term care insurance premium counts as a medical expense up to a limit set by age at the end of the year. For 2026, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 sets it at $500 at age 40 or under, $930 from 41 to 50, $1,860 from 51 to 60, $4,960 from 61 to 70 and $6,200 above 70, up from $480, $900, $1,800, $4,810 and $6,020 in 2025. Counting is not saving. An employee who takes the standard deduction, $16,100 for a single filer in 2026, gets nothing from it, and an itemizer deducts only medical expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income: at 65 with $70,000 of income and no other medical costs, a $3,500 premium saves $0. The self-employed deduct the eligible premium without the floor, within the earned income of the business; a 58-year-old saves $409 on $2,800. A health savings account can pay the eligible premium tax-free.
The limits for 2026 and 2025
The Internal Revenue Code treats a qualified long-term care premium as medical care up to a dollar limit that depends on the age of the insured person at the end of the tax year (section 213(d)(10)). The IRS adjusts the limits each year for inflation. The figures for 2026 come from section 4.27 of Revenue Procedure 2025-32, those for 2025 from Revenue Procedure 2024-40.
| Age at the end of the year | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 or under | $480 | $500 |
| 41 to 50 | $900 | $930 |
| 51 to 60 | $1,800 | $1,860 |
| 61 to 70 | $4,810 | $4,960 |
| 71 or over | $6,020 | $6,200 |
The limit is per insured person. A couple who each hold a policy have two limits; a parent's policy paid by an adult child counts only if the parent is the child's dependent for medical expense purposes. Age is the age reached by December 31: someone who turns 61 in December 2026 uses the $4,960 limit for the whole year.
Route 1: itemized medical expenses
For an employee or a retiree, the premium within the limit joins other medical expenses on Schedule A. Two thresholds then apply. Only the total above 7.5% of adjusted gross income is deductible (IRS Publication 502), and itemized deductions as a whole must beat the standard deduction, $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly or $24,150 head of household in 2026. Most people with moderate medical costs fail one of the two, which is why the calculator often shows no saving. It helps in a year of large medical bills or high itemized deductions: at 72 with $60,000 of income, $9,000 of other medical costs and $9,000 of other deductions, a $6,000 premium saves $408.
Your premium, your route, your saving
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Federal tax saved by the premium
$409
| 2026 limit for your age | $1,860 |
| Premium that counts | $1,860 |
| Your marginal federal rate | 22% |
Route 2: self-employed health insurance deduction
A self-employed person, a partner or a shareholder owning more than 2% of an S corporation can deduct the eligible premium as part of the self-employed health insurance deduction, figured on Form 7206. It is an adjustment to income, available without itemizing and without the 7.5% floor, limited to the earned income from the business and to months without access to a long-term care plan subsidized by an employer or a spouse's employer. The age limit still applies. The saving is the eligible premium times your marginal rate, more where it lowers income below a bracket edge.
Route 3: health savings account
A health savings account can reimburse qualified long-term care premiums up to the same age limit as a qualified medical expense (IRS Publication 969). There is no deduction on the return, but the money comes out untaxed. For someone with an account balance and no deductible route, that is often the best use of the limit. Contributions are capped at $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage in 2026 (Revenue Procedure 2025-19).
Workplace plans and accounts
Only 17% of civilian workers had access to long-term care insurance at work in March 2026 (BLS). A health flexible spending account cannot reimburse long-term care premiums, unlike a health savings account (Publication 969). A self-employed person who could join a long-term care plan subsidized by an employer, or by a spouse's employer, loses the self-employed deduction for those months (Publication 502).
After the deduction: benefits
Benefits from a qualified contract are generally tax-free. A policy that pays a flat daily amount is tax-free up to $430 a day in 2026 or the actual costs if higher; the per diem calculator shows when the rest becomes taxable, and the cost page what a premium buys.