West Virginia Long-Term Care

Federal Partnership Program

The State of West Virginia participates in the federal/state long-term care insurance partnership program. The program was authorized through the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) which empowered states to help their citizens plan for long-term care with additional asset protection.

The West Virginia Long Term Care Partnership is a public/private arrangement between the state government and private long-term care insurers that assists individuals in planning for future long-term care needs. It enables people who purchase qualified long-term care insurance to have more of their assets protected if they later need state assistance in paying for long-term care. Example: if you receive $300,000 in benefits under your long-term care insurance, you may be allowed to protect an additional $300,000 in assets at the time you apply for Medicaid/Medical Assistance through a feature known as “asset disregard” under West Virginia’s Medicaid program.

Policy Example

For every dollar that a West Virginia Partnership Long-Term Care insurance policy pays in benefits, a dollar of personal assets can be protected (disregarded) during the Medicaid eligibility spend down. Example: if you receive $300,000 in benefits under your qualified Long-Term Care Insurance policy, you may be allowed to protect an additional $300,000 in assets at the time you apply for Medicaid/Medical Assistance through a feature known as “asset disregard” under West Virginia’s Medicaid program.

“Asset disregard” means that an amount of the policyholder’s assets equal to the amount of long-term care insurance benefits received from a qualified partnership policy will be disregarded for the purpose of determining the insured’s eligibility for Medicaid. This generally allows a person to keep assets equal to the insurance benefits received without affecting the person’s eligibility for Medicaid. The Partnership Program also protects those assets after death from Medicaid estate recovery.

Reciprocity

Most states have reciprocity with other states' long-term-care partnership programs including West Virginia. This means if you move from or to West Virginia your partnership asset protection follows you as well.

Medicaid

Long-Term Care Medicaid spend down is $2,000. A spouse’s minimum asset allowance is minimum of $26,076 up to a maximum of one-half of countable assets up to $130,380   Your spouse’s minimum monthly income allowance is $2,155. * The home equity limit is $603,000.

For more information about the Medicaid program visit www.medicaid.gov

Rate Stability Rules

In addition, West Virginia consumers enjoy additional peace-of-mind as the state has adopted Long-Term Care Insurance Rate Stability Rules.  These rules, developed the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, makes it much harder for an insurance company to get an approved rate increase.

Products Approved in West Virginia

A variety of products are approved in West Virginia for Long-Term Care planning. These include traditional and partnership certified plans, short-duration policies, and asset-based “hybrid” policies.

Tax Incentives

West Virginia offers a state tax incentive for qualified long-term care insurance. Resident taxpayers can deduct LTC premium (as defined in the West Virginia Code) paid during the taxable year for the taxpayer, his/her spouse, parent or dependent, from the federal adjusted gross income reported on the West Virginia state tax return.

A deduction is allowed on the state level only to the extent that the amount is not allowable as a deduction for purposes of determining the taxpayer’s federal adjusted gross income for the year of payment.

_{*The federal government sets a new minimum and maximum amounts each year, but states can set their own minimum requirements at any level between the federal limits. This information is based on the best available sources.}