2026 Tax-Deductibility Limits for Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2026 limits on the amount of qualified long-term care insurance premiums that may be treated as medical expenses for federal income tax purposes.

Premiums paid for a qualified long-term care insurance policy may be included with the taxpayer’s other unreimbursed medical expenses. This treatment applies to eligible premiums paid for the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, and qualifying dependents.

For taxpayers who itemize deductions on Schedule A, the IRS states:

“You can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the part of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).”

Accordingly, eligible long-term care insurance premiums do not automatically produce a tax deduction. They are included in the taxpayer’s total unreimbursed medical expenses, and only the portion of those expenses exceeding 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income is deductible. A taxpayer who claims the standard deduction instead of itemizing generally receives no separate deduction for these premiums.

The amount of long-term care insurance premiums that may be treated as a medical expense is limited according to the insured person’s age at the end of the taxable year. For 2026, the limits are:

Age 40 or younger: $500
Age 41 through 50: $930
Age 51 through 60: $1,860
Age 61 through 70: $4,960
Age 71 or older: $6,200

These limits apply separately to each insured person. If spouses are in different age categories, each spouse uses the limit applicable to that spouse’s age. The eligible amount is the lesser of the qualified premium actually paid or the applicable age-based limit. Premium payments above the applicable limit cannot be included as medical expenses.

The IRS’s operative 2026 guidance provides:

“For taxable years beginning in 2026, the limitations under § 213(d)(10), regarding eligible long-term care premiums includible in the term ‘medical care’ are as follows.”

The guidance then establishes the five age-based limits listed above. IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, § 4.27.

Special Rules for Self-Employed Individuals

A qualifying self-employed taxpayer may be able to deduct eligible long-term care insurance premiums as a self-employed health insurance deduction. This deduction is not subject to the 7.5 percent adjusted-gross-income threshold and does not require the taxpayer to itemize deductions.

The rule is more restrictive than simply requiring a net profit. The deduction may depend on:

Whether the insurance plan was established under the taxpayer’s business;
The taxpayer’s net earnings from that business;
Whether the taxpayer or spouse was eligible to participate in a subsidized employer-sponsored health or long-term care insurance plan;
The insured person’s applicable age-based premium limit; and
Special rules for partners and more-than-2-percent shareholders of an S corporation.

For 2026, eligible self-employed taxpayers claiming qualified long-term care insurance premiums generally calculate the deduction using Form 7206. IRS 2026 Instructions for Form 7206.

Tax laws and individual circumstances vary. Taxpayers should consult a qualified tax professional before claiming a deduction for long-term care insurance premiums.