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Question: Long-term care insurance premiums may be paid from a Health Savings Account (HSA). It is my understanding that someone on Medicare cannot have a HSA and thus take advantage of this. Does this mean that someone paying premiums from a HSA will need to stop doing so once reaching 65 and going on Medicare?

Answer: According to IRS Notice 2004-50, 2004-33, IRB 196, A-3; an individual enrolled in Medicare Part A or B may not contribute to an HSA. If someone is eligible for Medicare but has not enrolled, they may still make the contribution. The LTCi premiums would still be an allowable distribution from a HSA, just no further contributions would be allowed for this individual.


Question: Where precisely does a self-employed person write off tax-qualified LTC insurance premiums? And where does he/she write off premiums paid for her W-2 employee who is also her husband? Both policies will have shared riders.

Answer: The actual deduction for the long-term care insurance premium paid by a self-employed individual is actually taken on line 14 of Schedule C (of the For 1040). As you know, the deduction is limited to the amount of the "Eligible Premium" amount for the self-employed individual and spouse of the self-employed individual (Internal Revenue Code Section 162 (I)(2)(C) and Section 213 (d)). If the spouse is a bona fide employee of the business, then the actual long-term care premium may be deducted for the employee / spouse's policy (Internal Revenue Code Section 162 (s)).