You can deduct premiums for a qualified long-term care insurance policy as a medical expense on your federal return, but the IRS limits how much of the premium counts based on your age at the end of the tax year. For 2026, the long-term care insurance premium deduction is capped at $500 for anyone 40 or younger and rises with age to $6,200 for those over 70. Whether the deduction actually saves you money depends on how you file and whether you’re self-employed.
2026 Age-Based Premium Caps
The IRS adjusts these limits each year for inflation. The cap that applies to you is set by the age you reach before December 31.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 213 – Medical, Dental, Etc., Expenses For 2026:
- 40 or younger: $500
- 41 to 50: $930
- 51 to 60: $1,860
- 61 to 70: $4,960
- Over 70: $6,200
The caps are per person. If you and your spouse each have your own policy, each of you gets your own age-based limit. Anything you pay above your cap does nothing for you on your federal return. A 62-year-old paying $7,000 in annual premiums can count only $4,960.
What Counts as a Qualified Policy
The deduction is only available for a “qualified long-term care insurance contract” as defined in federal law. The policy must cover only long-term care services, be guaranteed renewable, and have no cash surrender value. You cannot borrow against it or pledge it as collateral, and any refunds or dividends from the insurer have to go toward future premiums or benefits rather than paying out as cash.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7702B – Treatment of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Most standalone long-term care policies sold today meet these requirements, and the insurer will normally say so in the policy documents. If yours doesn’t qualify, none of the premium is deductible.
Hybrid products that combine long-term care coverage with life insurance or an annuity are different. Most are structured under a different section of the tax code and don’t qualify for the premium deduction at all. Some insurers do carve out the long-term care rider as a distinct qualified component, and in that case only the premium allocated to the rider is potentially deductible. The life insurance portion never is. Check with the insurer about your policy’s tax classification before claiming anything.
Claiming the Deduction if You Itemize
For most people who aren’t self-employed, the deduction requires itemizing on Schedule A. Your deductible premium, up to the age cap, joins the pile of other unreimbursed medical and dental expenses for the year.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses You then deduct only the portion of that total that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.4Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040)
That floor is where most deductions quietly disappear. If your AGI is $80,000, your medical expenses need to top $6,000 before any of it deducts. And itemizing only helps if your total itemized deductions beat the standard deduction, which for 2026 is $16,100 for a single filer and $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 A younger taxpayer paying a few hundred dollars a year in long-term care premiums usually sees no benefit at all. The deduction tends to matter in years with unusually high medical bills, or for people who already itemize for other reasons.
The Self-Employed Path
Self-employed taxpayers get a much better version of this deduction. Sole proprietors, partners, and more-than-2% S corporation shareholders can deduct qualified long-term care premiums above the line, using Form 7206 and reporting the result on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206 You don’t have to itemize, and the 7.5% floor doesn’t apply. The premium reduces your AGI directly.
Two limits still bite. The age-based caps apply exactly as they do for everyone else. And the self-employed deduction can’t exceed the net profit of the business that set up the insurance plan. If the business breaks even or loses money for the year, this route is closed for that year.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206 You could still try to itemize the premiums on Schedule A, but then the 7.5% floor is back.
Premiums You Pay for a Spouse or Dependent
Premiums you pay on someone else’s policy can also count, as long as that person is your spouse or a tax dependent. Each covered person’s premium is limited by their own age-based cap.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses Say you’re 55 and pay $3,000 for your own policy plus $5,500 for a 78-year-old parent you claim as a dependent. You can include up to $1,860 of your own premium and up to $6,200 of your parent’s premium in your medical expenses. The self-employed deduction similarly reaches premiums paid for a spouse, dependents, and children under 27.
Using an HSA to Pay Premiums
If you have a Health Savings Account, you can use it to pay qualified long-term care premiums tax-free, but only up to the same age-based cap that applies everywhere else. Anything paid out of the HSA above that cap counts as a non-qualified distribution. Long-term care premiums are one of the few insurance premiums an HSA is allowed to cover at all, since HSA funds generally can’t be used for regular health insurance premiums.
When Your Employer Pays
If a C corporation buys a qualified long-term care policy for its employees, the company deducts the full premium as a business expense, with no age-based cap on the employer side. For the employee, employer-paid long-term care premiums are generally excluded from taxable income because qualified long-term care insurance is treated as an accident and health plan under federal law.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7702B – Treatment of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance One exception: if the premium runs through a flexible spending arrangement, it stays taxable to the employee.
Owners of pass-through businesses don’t get this employer-level treatment. A more-than-2% S corporation shareholder uses the self-employed path described above and remains bound by the age caps.
Forms You’ll Need
If you’re itemizing, long-term care premiums go on Schedule A with the rest of your medical expenses.7Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule A (Form 1040) If you’re self-employed, you calculate the deduction on Form 7206 and carry it to Schedule 1 of Form 1040.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206 Keep your policy documents showing that the contract is tax-qualified, and keep proof of what you paid, in case the IRS asks.