NU Online News Service, July 26, 3:50 p.m. – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 362-61 Thursday to pass H.R. 4946, a bill that would create a limited "above-the-line" federal income tax deduction for individual taxpayers who buy long-term care insurance.
More than two-thirds of the 204 Democrats who voted supported the bill, and all of the 217 Republicans who voted supported it.
The bill, brought before the House by Reps. William Thomas, R-Calif., and J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., would phase in a long-term care insurance premium deduction over 10 years.
The maximum deduction would eventually amount to 50% of the taxpayer's long-term care insurance premiums.
Only individuals with an adjusted gross income of $20,000 or less, and couples with adjusted gross incomes of $40,000 or less, could take the full deduction.
Individuals with adjusted gross incomes between $20,000 and $40,000, and couples with adjusted gross incomes between $40,000 and $80,000, could deduct smaller percentages of their annual premiums.
