Wisconsin Long-Term Care Information

The State of Wisconsin participates in the federal/state long-term care insurance partnership program. The program, which was authorized under law, empowers states to enact these programs so families can better protect assets from the high costs of long-term care.

The Wisconsin Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program is a joint effort between the federal Medicaid Program, long-term care insurers, and the state of Wisconsin.

The purpose of the Wisconsin Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program is to encourage people to make plans for how they will meet their future long-term care needs, whether through services provided in their own home, a community-based setting, or in a nursing facility.

Under the Wisconsin Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program, the amount in assets equal to the amount of benefits received from a qualifying policy is excluded when:

• the person’s resources are examined for purposes of determining Wisconsin Medicaid eligibility, and
• estate recovery is determined upon death after the individual has received Wisconsin Medicaid benefits.

This “asset disregard” is dollar-for-dollar. For example, if the qualified long-term care insurance policy paid $300,000 in benefits that same amount would be disregarded (in addition to the $2000 that is normally allowed) for a person to qualify for Medicaid long-term care benefits. This means a family can keep more assets than is typically legally allowed.

Long-Term Care Medicaid spend down is $2000. A spouse’s minimum asset allowance is $50,000.

Most states have reciprocity with other states' long-term-care partnership programs including Wisconsin. This means if you move from or to Wisconsin your partnership asset protection follows you as well.

Wisconsin offers a state tax incentive for qualified long-term care insurance. Wisconsin Taxpayers take a deduction from Federal AGI for a portion of LTCI premium in calculating WI taxable income, including LTCI premium spent for a spouse’s policy, to the extent a deduction isn’t taken federally. The amount of LTCI premium deductible in calculating federal taxable income is not included in calculating the Wisconsin itemized deductions credit.

A variety of products are approved in Wisconsin for Long-Term Care planning.