Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: Yes. Washington participates in the federal Long-Term Care Partnership Program, using a dollar-for-dollar asset-protection model, under Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Washington State Long-Term Care Partnership Program; RCW 48.85.
How the asset protection works
Washington 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. Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Washington State Long-Term Care Partnership Program; RCW 48.85 is the governing citation. In the state’s own words: “Offers you Medicaid asset protection on a dollar-for-dollar basis”
What the state itself says about moving
Washington’s own program materials address this directly, describing it this way: Washington’s a participant in the national reciprocity agreement with many other states. This agreement allows Washington state Partnership policyholders to move to another reciprocal state and receive dollar-for-dollar asset protection. Similarly, Partnership policyholders from other reciprocal states can move to Washington state and remain protected.
Which policies qualify
Washington’s own materials, as read this session, did not state a specific policy-issue-date cutoff in so many words. The federal baseline (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) only covers policies issued after February 8, 2006 in any Partnership state; ask the insurer directly whether a specific policy carries the Partnership designation rather than assuming from its purchase date alone.
Estate recovery, not just eligibility
The federal rule requires the same protected amount to be disregarded twice: once when Washington decides Medicaid eligibility, and again later if Washington 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 Washington.
| 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 |
| This state’s core mechanism | protects $1 of assets for every $1 the policy pays out |
| State citation | Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Washington State Long-Term Care Partnership Program; RCW 48.85 |
| Federal authority | 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b), Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 |
| Participates | Yes |
| Confidence | High |
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.