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Partnership for Long Term Care Programs – What Are They?

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Partnership for long term care programs are basically a way for users to participate in a state program where they can still qualify for Medicaid without having to spend every dollar they’ve saved. The programs have been around for many years, but because of changing laws, only four states created programs in the early years – California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York.

Changes in law after these four states created their programs left other states with little incentive to create their own. Luckily, these four states have been “grandfathered” in – meaning, they can keep the programs that are set in place. To participate in the partnership, you must buy a long term care policy that contains the basic benefits of your state’s program.

Under these programs, you can generally apply for Medicaid benefits even if you have not sold all of your assets as long as you

  1. purchase the policy under the program,
  2. live in the state while receiving long term care services (note: CT and IN have a reciprocal agreement that allows you to transfer benefits from one state to the other), and
  3. receive and exhaust the benefits under the policy for long term care services.

Additional information

To receive additional information on the programs set up in California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York, click on the websites:

California: www.dhs.ca.gov/cpltc/ Connecticut: www.opm.state.ct.us/pdpd4/ltc/home.htm Indiana: www.state.in.us/fssa/iltcp/ New York: www.nyspltc.org/

In addition, several other states are considering creating partnership programs. Contact your state’s insurance department for additional information.