Short answer: No. Long-term care insurance cannot be a qualified benefit in a cafeteria plan, so employee payroll contributions for it are after-tax. Premiums the employer pays for a tax-qualified LTC policy, outside a flexible spending arrangement, are generally excluded from the employee’s wages.
Section 125 says a qualified benefit does not include any product advertised, marketed or offered as long-term care insurance, so LTC cannot be run through the premium-only or flex plan. Group term life, by contrast, can be.
When the employer pays, a tax-qualified LTC contract is treated as accident and health insurance, and employer contributions toward it are generally excluded from wages. The exception is coverage provided through a flexible spending or similar arrangement: those contributions are taxable for income tax withholding, though still excluded from Social Security, Medicare and FUTA wages.
An employee who pays after tax may still count the premium toward the age-based medical expense limits, or pay it from an HSA.