---
title: "North Dakota Long-Term Care Insurance | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/north-dakota/long-term-care-insurance/
description: "The North Dakota Insurance Department regulates LTC insurance and runs an active Partnership Program for qualifying policies."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
North Dakota · LTC Insurance

# North Dakota Long-Term Care Insurance

Last updated 2026-10-20

The North Dakota Insurance Department provides the state's consumer guidance on long-term-care insurance, urging prospective buyers to compare policies carefully, understand benefit triggers and elimination periods, and confirm that a given company's product is actually approved for sale in North Dakota. The Department notes that long-term-care coverage can extend beyond nursing-home care to in-home care, assisted living, adult day care, and other alternatives — though policies aren't standardized, so actual coverage always depends on the specific contract.

The Department also cautions that Medicare pays for nursing-home care only in very limited situations, and it advises consumers not to count on Medicare to cover long-term nursing-home costs. That's a reason to weigh private insurance, personal savings, VA benefits where applicable, and Medicaid planning together — not a claim that every policy will pay every type of claim. Premium history, inflation protection, daily or monthly benefit amounts, benefit period length, covered service settings, and the insurer's financial strength all deserve policy-specific review. The state's Partnership Program covers qualifying policies issued on or after January 1, 2007.

## North Dakota figures

- Partnership Program eligible policies issued on/after: January 1, 2007

## Does North Dakota have a Long-Term Care Partnership program?

**Yes.** North Dakota 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, North Dakota 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

North Dakota appears on the New York State Partnership for Long-Term Care's reciprocity map as a Partnership state that honors reciprocity. In general, a Partnership policy bought in another reciprocal state keeps its dollar-for-dollar protection here, and a North Dakota policy keeps it in other reciprocal states.

**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 North Dakota.

## Sources and official resources

- [North Dakota Insurance Department: Long-Term Care](https://www.insurance.nd.gov/consumers/insurance/long-term-care)
- [North Dakota Insurance Department: Long-Term Care Partnership Program](https://www.insurance.nd.gov/companies/long-term-care-partnership-program)
- [North Dakota HHS: Medicaid Eligibility](https://www.hhs.nd.gov/healthcare/medicaid/eligibility)
- [New York State Partnership for Long-Term Care: State Partnership Programs and Reciprocity map](https://nyspltc.health.ny.gov/reciprocitymap.htm)
- [U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.

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