Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: Yes. South Carolina participates in the federal Long-Term Care Partnership Program, using a dollar-for-dollar asset-protection model, under S.C. Code Ann. Sections 38-72-10 et seq. (Long Term Care Insurance Act); S.C. Code Regs. 69-44.
How the asset protection works
South Carolina uses a dollar-for-dollar asset-protection model: an amount of Medicaid-countable assets equal to what a qualified Partnership policy actually paid out is protected (disregarded) both when applying for Medicaid and later in Medicaid estate recovery. S.C. Code Ann. Sections 38-72-10 et seq. (Long Term Care Insurance Act); S.C. Code Regs. 69-44 is the governing citation. In the state’s own words: “the relationship between qualified state long term care insurance partnership programs and other public and private coverage of long term care services including Medicaid”
What the state itself says about moving
South Carolina’s own program materials, as read this session, do not spell out a reciprocity policy in so many words. The federal default (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) is opt-out, not opt-in: most Partnership states honor each other’s policies unless a state has formally withdrawn. Confirm the current position directly with the Medicaid agency in the state you are moving to or from, in writing, before counting on it.
Which policies qualify
South Carolina’s own materials tie the program to policies issued on or after 2008 (or the date its state plan amendment took effect that year). A long-term care policy bought before that cutoff is not automatically Partnership-qualified in South Carolina even if it otherwise looks similar; the policy’s own rider or outline of coverage should say “Partnership” or “Qualified State Long-Term Care Insurance Partnership” explicitly.
Estate recovery, not just eligibility
The federal rule requires the same protected amount to be disregarded twice: once when South Carolina decides Medicaid eligibility, and again later if South Carolina pursues Medicaid estate recovery against the person’s estate. A Partnership-qualified policy is doing two jobs, not one; see how estate recovery itself works in South Carolina.
A note on sourcing: Fetched directly from South Carolina’s own legislature site; dollar-for-dollar description and effective dates come from a DOI regulation whose PDF text could not be extracted.
| Federal Partnership framework itself | 20 years old (in place since February 8, 2006) |
| Federal inflation-protection buyer-age brackets | compound protection required under age 61; some protection required age 61 to age 76 |
| South Carolina’s own cutoff (since 2008) | 18 years old |
| This state’s core mechanism | protects $1 of assets for every $1 the policy pays out |
| State citation | S.C. Code Ann. Sections 38-72-10 et seq. (Long Term Care Insurance Act); S.C. Code Regs. 69-44 |
| Federal authority | 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b), Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 |
| Participates | Yes |
| Confidence | Medium |
For the federal rules behind this state page, see how Partnership reciprocity works when you move states and why inflation protection is a condition of staying Partnership-qualified.
Every citation on this page was read directly from the state’s own Insurance Department, Medicaid agency, statute, or administrative code this session (or, where that site could not be reached, from an independently cross-checked legal-database mirror of the same codified text, disclosed below). General information, not insurance, legal, or tax advice on any specific policy or application; program rules and reciprocity agreements can change, and your state’s Insurance Department or Medicaid agency has the final say.