The Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care pairs the state with private insurers to sell specially designed long-term-care policies. According to the state's Office of Policy and Management, these policies are sold competitively by private companies and can pay for both nursing-home and home-care costs. That's current evidence the Connecticut Partnership remains genuinely open for new sales, not a closed, legacy-only arrangement.
The headline Medicaid feature is Asset Protection if the policyholder later needs to apply for Connecticut Medicaid. The state's consumer guidance lays out the mechanism plainly: someone who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid can keep assets equal to whatever benefits their Connecticut Partnership-approved policy actually paid out. That protection is tied to a qualifying Partnership policy and to benefits genuinely paid — it isn't a blanket exemption extended to every long-term-care policy on the market.
Does Connecticut have a Long-Term Care Partnership program?
Yes. Connecticut is one of the four original Partnership states. The Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care is run by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), began before the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and follows its own rules rather than the NAIC-based DRA model most states use. A Partnership policy gives dollar-for-dollar Medicaid asset protection: every dollar the policy pays in benefits protects a dollar of assets from Medicaid's asset test and from estate recovery.
How the protection works (illustrative): if a Partnership policy pays $200,000 in benefits before you apply for Medicaid, Medicaid can disregard $200,000 of your assets on top of the state's regular asset limit, and that same amount is protected from Medicaid estate recovery later.
If you move to another state
Connecticut policyholders who relocate may keep dollar-for-dollar protection in another state if two conditions are met: they apply to and qualify for that state's Medicaid program, and Connecticut and that state are both members of the Reciprocity Compact (or have a separate reciprocal agreement) when they apply.
Not every insurer offers Partnership-qualified policies in every state. When you compare quotes, ask whether each policy is Partnership-qualified in Connecticut.
Sources and official resources
- Connecticut Insurance Department: Long-Term Care Insurance
- Connecticut OPM: General Information on the CT Partnership for Long-Term Care
- Connecticut OPM: Partnership Medicaid Asset Protection Reciprocity
- Connecticut DSS: Long-Term Services and Supports, How to Apply
- New York State Partnership for Long-Term Care: State Partnership Programs and Reciprocity map
- U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)
Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.