Minnesota long-term care insurance: cost & coverage

Who regulates long-term care insurance in Minnesota

Long-term care insurance policies sold in Minnesota are regulated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce (Insurance Division). 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 Minnesota

Median assisted living cost in Minnesota 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 Minnesota

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

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

Minnesota's LTC Partnership program

Minnesota has an active LTC Partnership program. Minnesota's LTC Partnership provides a dollar-for-dollar Medical Assistance asset disregard for benefits paid under a certified policy.

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 Minnesota treats LTC premiums at tax time

Minnesota is one of the few states that offers an actual tax credit for long-term care insurance premiums, not merely a deduction. On Schedule M1LTI you claim 25% of the premiums you paid, capped at $100 per insured person — so a married couple can claim at most $200, and one policy covering both spouses still qualifies for that $200 maximum. The policy must carry a lifetime long-term care benefit limit of $100,000 or more and must qualify as a Minnesota itemized medical deduction, disregarding the income threshold. Only one qualifying policy per person counts. If you already deducted the premiums on Schedule M1SA, you subtract that portion first, so the same dollar is never counted twice. Part-year residents and nonresidents prorate the credit.

Source: Minnesota Department of Revenue (2025)

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

Medicaid long-term care in Minnesota

Minnesota's Medicaid program is called Medical Assistance, or MA, and long-term care is paid for under MA-LTC. Most people applying after 65 qualify through the MA-ABD track, which counts assets against a limit of $3,000 for one person and $6,000 for a household of two, plus $200 for each additional household member. Beyond the asset test, Minnesota requires a Long-Term Care Consultation confirming you need a nursing-facility level of care, caps the home equity you may keep behind — a figure Minnesota indexes to inflation each year — and reviews every gift or below-market transfer you made in the 60 months before you applied. An uncompensated transfer inside that window creates a penalty period during which Medical Assistance will not pay for your care.

Source: Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual (2026)

Other Minnesota long-term care programs

• Elderly Waiver and Alternative Care. Minnesota runs two home- and community-based programs an older Minnesotan weighing long-term care should know by name. The Elderly Waiver pays for care at home or in an assisted living setting for people who meet a nursing-home level of care but choose to live in the community; to qualify you must be 65 or older, be eligible for Medical Assistance, and need services the waiver can provide for less than the cost of nursing-home care. Alternative Care covers many of the same services for people 65 and older who meet the same level of care but are not yet eligible for Medical Assistance — it is limited to people who do not have enough income and assets to pay for a nursing-facility stay lasting longer than 135 days, who have no other way to pay for the services, and whose care Alternative Care can provide for less than 75 percent of what Medical Assistance would pay for an older person with a similar level of need. Either program starts with a MnCHOICES assessment arranged through your county or tribal nation.
• Minnesota Aging Pathways (formerly the Senior LinkAge Line). Minnesota's free statewide aging and disability help line is now called Minnesota Aging Pathways. The state's own page says plainly that it is formerly the Senior LinkAge Line — the name most Minnesotans, and most older web pages, still use. The phone number did not change: 800-333-2433, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is a state service rather than an insurance sales channel, and the topics it publishes guidance on are exactly the ones that come up before you buy a policy — long-term care planning, financial and legal planning, aging in place, assisted living, housing, caregiver support, fraud, and Medicare, including help reviewing your plan during open enrollment. It is a sensible first call.

How to compare quotes in Minnesota

• Confirm any agent or carrier you talk to is currently licensed to sell in Minnesota — the Minnesota Department of Commerce (Insurance Division) can confirm licensing status.
• Ask which products a carrier is actively writing in Minnesota 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 Minnesota — 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 Minnesota Department of Commerce (Insurance Division) or a licensed agent before making any decision. LongTermCareInsurance411 is not a government agency and does not administer Minnesota's insurance regulations or Medicaid program.

Last updated: August 22, 2026