Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: Yes. Colorado participates in the federal Long-Term Care Partnership Program, using a dollar-for-dollar asset-protection model, under 3 CCR 702-4, Series 4-4, Regulation 4-4-4 (Colorado Division of Insurance regulation), effective January 1, 2008.
How the asset protection works
Colorado 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. 3 CCR 702-4, Series 4-4, Regulation 4-4-4 (Colorado Division of Insurance regulation), effective January 1, 2008 is the governing citation. In the state’s own words: “the asset eligibility and recovery provisions of the Medicaid program of Colorado are applied by disregarding an amount of assets which is equal to the amount of insurance benefits you have received from your Partnership Policy”
What the state itself says about moving
Colorado’s own program materials address this directly, describing it this way: If you move to a state that does not maintain a Partnership Program or does not recognize your policy as a Partnership Policy, you would not receive Medicaid asset protection in that state.
Which policies qualify
Colorado’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 Colorado 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 Colorado decides Medicaid eligibility, and again later if Colorado 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 Colorado.
A note on sourcing: sos.state.co.us returned 403; text reconstructed from Cornell LII’s reproduction of 3 CCR 702-4-4-4-A.
| 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 |
| Colorado’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 | 3 CCR 702-4, Series 4-4, Regulation 4-4-4 (Colorado Division of Insurance regulation), effective January 1, 2008 |
| 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.