Tennessee long-term care insurance: cost & coverage

Who regulates long-term care insurance in Tennessee

Long-term care insurance policies sold in Tennessee are regulated by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and 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 Tennessee

Median assisted living cost in Tennessee 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 Tennessee

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

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

Tennessee's LTC Partnership program

Tennessee has an active LTC Partnership program. Tennessee's LTC Partnership program provides "Asset Disregard" dollar-for-dollar protection against TennCare (Medicaid) spend-down.

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 Tennessee treats LTC premiums at tax time

Tennessee has no tax on wages or salaries, so there's no long-term-care insurance premium deduction or credit built into a personal income tax return — there simply isn't one to claim against. The state's narrower Hall income tax, which applied only to interest and dividend income (not premiums or LTC benefits), was fully repealed for tax years beginning January 1, 2021 or later, per the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Tennessee residents get no state-level tax break for paying long-term-care premiums, but they also owe no state tax on LTC insurance payouts they receive.

Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue (2026)

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

Medicaid long-term care in Tennessee

TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid program, pays for nursing facility care and home- and community-based waiver services once an applicant is determined eligible by the Department of Human Services. The countable resource limit for an individual applicant is $2,000, and applicants cannot have home equity above $500,000 unless a spouse or dependent child lives there. Applicants must also disclose any annuity interest and name the state as remainder beneficiary. TennCare is the payor of last resort, so other coverage — including private long-term care insurance — is billed first.

Source: TennCare (Bureau of TennCare), "Aged, Blind and Disabled Manual," Policy 125.025 (2019)

How to compare quotes in Tennessee

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

Last updated: August 22, 2026