Continuing care retirement community
A campus offering independent living through to nursing care, usually entered by paying a large fee up front.
What it means
A continuing care retirement community — increasingly called a life plan community — houses independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing on one site, so that a move to more care is a move across the campus rather than to a new place and a new set of people.
Entry usually involves a substantial one-off fee alongside a monthly charge, and the contract type decides what that fee buys. A life care contract fixes the monthly cost broadly regardless of the care later needed. A modified contract includes a defined amount of higher care and charges market rates beyond it. A fee-for-service contract secures access but charges the going rate for each level.
The entrance fee may be fully refundable, partly refundable, or amortized away over a period. That single term changes the financial character of the decision from a purchase to a deposit, and it is often not the term a brochure leads with.
Why it matters
It is one of the largest single financial commitments an older person makes, and much of the risk sits in contract language rather than in the buildings.
The community's own financial health matters to the resident: the promise of future care is only as good as the operator, and disclosure statements exist for exactly that reason.
When you are likely to meet it
- When a parent is considering a move while still fully independent.
- When a family is comparing the cost of a campus against staying at home with help.
- When an entrance fee refund is claimed by an estate after death.
The three contract types
The entrance fee buys a different thing under each, and the difference only shows once more care is needed.
| What is being compared | Life care (Type A) | Modified (Type B) | Fee-for-service (Type C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrance fee | Highest | Middle | Lowest |
| Monthly cost when more care is needed | Broadly unchanged | Unchanged up to a defined amount, then market rate | Market rate from the start |
| Who carries the risk of needing years of care | The community | Shared | The resident |
| Suits somebody who | Wants a predictable cost and can fund the fee | Wants some protection without the largest fee | Expects to need little care, or prefers to keep the capital |
Ask for the residence and care agreement and the disclosure statement before comparing anything. The brochure describes the campus; the contract describes what happens when the campus is needed.
How this varies by state
Whether these communities are regulated, and by whom, is a state matter — some states require disclosure statements and reserve funding, others do not.