---
title: "Washington Long-Term Care Insurance | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/washington/long-term-care-insurance/
description: "Washington’s active LTC Partnership program can protect assets up to qualified policy benefits under special Apple Health rules."
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.
---
Washington · LTC Insurance

# Washington Long-Term Care Insurance

Last updated 2026-10-20

Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner oversees long-term-care insurance and administers the state's Long-Term Care Partnership Program, publishing consumer and insurer guidance for both. Any producer who wants to sell LTC or Partnership coverage in the state must hold a disability line of authority and complete the required LTC-specific education.

Insurance regulation and Apple Health eligibility are related questions, but they're not the same question. A policy being marketed as long-term-care coverage doesn't by itself determine how Medicaid will treat it — the policy has to actually qualify under Washington's Partnership rules before it earns the special asset-protection treatment that comes with Partnership status.

## Does Washington have a Long-Term Care Partnership program?

**Yes.** Washington 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, Washington 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

Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington.

## Sources and official resources

- [Washington OIC: A Consumer's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-09/guide-long-term-care.pdf)
- [Washington HCA: Long-Term Care Partnerships](https://www.hca.wa.gov/free-or-low-cost-health-care/i-help-others-apply-and-access-apple-health/long-term-care-partnerships)
- [Washington OIC: Long-Term Care Partnership Program](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/insurance-resources/long-term-care/washington-state-long-term-care-partnership-program)
- [Washington DSHS: Getting Started with Long-Term Care](https://www.dshs.wa.gov/adult-and-aging-services/getting-started-long-term-care)
- [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.

[← Back to the full Washington guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/washington/)