Illinois long-term care insurance: cost & coverage

Who regulates long-term care insurance in Illinois

Long-term care insurance policies sold in Illinois are regulated by the Illinois Department of Insurance. If you have a complaint about an agent, carrier, or policy, you can file it with the regulator directly.

What long-term care costs in Illinois

Median assisted living cost in Illinois vs. the national median:

Source: SeniorLiving.org median assisted living costs, 2026. See costs for all 50 states for the full table.

What each type of care costs in Illinois

Assisted living is only one of the settings people use. Median monthly costs across the main care types in Illinois:

Source: SeniorLiving.org Cost of Care Research (2026)

Illinois's LTC Partnership program

Illinois has an active LTC Partnership program. Illinois became the 44th state to implement the federal/state LTC Partnership program, effective January 1, 2019.

A Partnership-qualified policy lets you keep an extra dollar of assets, protected from Medicaid spend-down, for every dollar your policy pays out in benefits — see the note above for this state's current status. Learn more about how Partnership programs work.

How Illinois treats LTC premiums at tax time

Illinois taxes income at a flat 4.95 percent and gives long-term care insurance no special treatment at all — there is no Illinois deduction, subtraction or credit for the premiums. The reason is structural: your Illinois return starts from the adjusted gross income on your federal return, and the Department of Revenue's own Schedule M instructions list federal itemized deductions among the things you may not subtract. So the medical-expense deduction you might claim on federal Schedule A never reaches your Illinois tax bill. What Illinois does give older filers is broader: Social Security and income from qualified retirement plans and IRAs are subtracted out of Illinois income entirely.

Source: Illinois Department of Revenue (2025)

This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your own situation with a tax professional licensed in Illinois.

Medicaid long-term care in Illinois

Illinois calls its Medicaid program Medical Assistance. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services runs it, and you apply through a Department of Human Services office. On assets Illinois is unusually generous: its own rule disregards $17,500 for a single person or a married couple, far above the $2,000 limit Illinois's own consumer pages still print. Your home is exempt, up to a $752,000 equity limit in 2026. If one spouse enters care and the other stays home, the spouse at home may keep up to $162,660 in resources and $4,066.50 a month in income. Illinois looks back sixty months at gifts and below-market transfers, and after death it recovers what it paid from your estate.

Source: Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services / Illinois Administrative Code, 89 Ill. Adm. Code 120.382 (2023)

Other Illinois long-term care programs

• Illinois Community Care Program. Illinois's Community Care Program is the state's main alternative to a nursing home. The Illinois Department on Aging has run it since 1979, and local Care Coordination Units arrange the services: in-home help with bathing, dressing, meals, laundry and housekeeping, adult day service, a 24-hour emergency response unit, and an automated medication dispenser. To qualify you must be 60 or older, live in Illinois, have non-exempt assets of $17,500 or less — your home, car and furnishings do not count — show an assessed need for long-term care on the Determination of Need assessment, and apply for Medicaid. It is means-tested, so it is what is left once your own money runs out.
• Illinois Supportive Living Program. If assisted living is what you want and Medicaid is what you have, Illinois built the Supportive Living Program for that gap. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services holds a Medicaid waiver that pays for personal care, homemaking, laundry, medication oversight, meals, activities and 24-hour staff in apartment settings with kitchenettes and private bathrooms. It is open to Illinois residents 65 and older, and to adults 22 through 64 with physical disabilities, who would otherwise need nursing home care. One thing to plan around: the waiver covers the services, but the resident still pays room and board.
• Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP). Illinois's Senior Health Insurance Program is free, statewide health insurance counseling from the Illinois Department on Aging for Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, reachable through local SHIP sites or the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966. SHIP keeps a long-term care section that hands out the NAIC Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance, and its main page is where Illinois publishes the numbers this planning turns on — the 2026 Medicaid income and asset limits, the 2026 spousal impoverishment guidelines, and the Medicaid spend-down rules. It is counseling, not coverage, but it is a neutral second opinion that costs nothing.
• Illinois Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Illinois's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is the free advocate to call when something goes wrong in a nursing home or other long-term care setting. The Illinois Department on Aging runs it under the federal Older Americans Act and the Illinois Act on Aging, with ombudsmen assigned to regions across the state. They visit facilities, investigate complaints, explain residents' rights, and step into involuntary transfers and discharges — always at the resident's direction and in confidence. It is open to residents, to their friends and relatives, and to families still weighing whether a facility is the right choice.

How to compare quotes in Illinois

• Confirm any agent or carrier you talk to is currently licensed to sell in Illinois — the Illinois Department of Insurance can confirm licensing status.
• Ask which products a carrier is actively writing in Illinois today — availability changes state by state and year to year. See carriers we compare.
• If a Partnership-qualified policy matters to you, confirm with the carrier or agent whether a policy is currently certified as Partnership-qualified in Illinois — see this state's Partnership status above.
• Compare traditional and hybrid options side by side — see traditional vs. hybrid coverage.
• Get quotes from more than one carrier; pricing for the same coverage can vary significantly.

Please note: Regulator names, complaint channels, and Partnership-program status can change. Confirm current details with the Illinois Department of Insurance or a licensed agent before making any decision. LongTermCareInsurance411 is not a government agency and does not administer Illinois's insurance regulations or Medicaid program.

Last updated: August 22, 2026