The Delaware Department of Insurance oversees long-term-care insurance sold in the state and maintains an Office of Long-Term Care Insurance consumer page with contact information for coverage questions. According to the Department, LTC insurance can help pay for nursing-home care, in-home care, respite care, hospice, and adult day care, typically paying benefits as a fixed dollar amount per day or per visit.
Having a policy isn't the same thing as being eligible for Medicaid, and coverage details vary widely from plan to plan — benefit triggers, the daily benefit amount, the elimination period, inflation protection, premiums, exclusions, and the insurer's financial strength all need to be read directly from the specific policy and its disclosures rather than assumed.
Delaware participates in the State Long-Term Care Partnership Program, and the state's current published carrier list includes companies actively selling Partnership plans — policies that can offer added Medicaid asset-protection benefits alongside standard LTC coverage.
Does Delaware have a Long-Term Care Partnership program?
Yes. Delaware takes part in the Long-Term Care Partnership program created by the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). DRA Partnership states follow consumer-protection standards drawn from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Long-Term Care Insurance Model Act and Model Regulation. A Partnership-qualified policy gives you dollar-for-dollar asset protection: for every dollar the policy pays in benefits, Delaware Medicaid can disregard a dollar of your assets when it decides eligibility, and the same amount is protected from estate recovery after death.
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.
What makes a policy Partnership-qualified
- It's a tax-qualified long-term care policy under Internal Revenue Code § 7702B.
- It meets the state's Partnership consumer-protection standards and is issued while you're a resident of a Partnership state (each state sets its own start date and residency rule).
- It carries the required inflation protection for your age when you buy: compound annual protection if you're under 61, some level of protection from 61 through 75, and optional protection at 76 or older.
If you move to another state
Delaware Medicaid rules (16 Del. Admin. Code 20345) say Delaware accepts Partnership policies issued in other states with qualified Partnership programs, for policies purchased on or after November 1, 2011. A Delaware Partnership policy is generally honored in other states that follow the federal reciprocity standards. Confirm with the Medicaid agency in the state where you'll apply.
The original four: California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York started their Partnership programs before the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Their programs were designed separately from the NAIC-based DRA model, so their rules differ (for example, some offered Total Asset protection), and California doesn't take part in reciprocity. If you bought a policy in one of these states, confirm how it's treated with the Medicaid agency where you'll apply.
Not every insurer offers Partnership-qualified policies in every state. When you compare quotes, ask whether each policy is Partnership-qualified in Delaware.
Sources and official resources
- Delaware Department of Insurance: Office of Long-Term Care Insurance
- Delaware Administrative Code: 16 Del. Admin. Code 20345, Qualified State Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership Program
- Delaware DHSS: Long Term Care Medicaid Programs
- 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.