Senior Spotlight: Core Considerations For Life Plan Communities (Part 1)

The hardest part of choosing a housing option as you age is that what fits your needs today might not work for you in a month, a year or five years. As the senior housing industry aims to address the varying phases and stages of aging, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) have been growing in popularity.

As we dove into this topic, we realized that the information we needed to convey to our readers was too much to cover in just one week! Thus, we have divided this blog into two parts; Part 1 debuts below while Part 2 will be published the week of July 17, 2023. 

What is a CCRC?

While some individual communities differentiate between the terms Life Plan Communities and CCRCs, AARP, Next Avenue and other reputable aging authorities declare that the term life plan community and CCRC are interchangeable. This senior housing type offers different living and care options on one site, to address your changing needs as you age.

For example, they generally offer an independent living option with activities and amenities, then options for assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing as one’s health and support needs change. AARP states that “CCRCs or life plan communities, are a long-term care option for older people who want to stay in the same place through different phases of the aging process.”

Cost & Popularity

Next Avenue reports that there are approximately 1,900 CCRCs nationwide, some are non-profit and some for-profit. The cost and investment model varies greatly among the communities.

Most utilize a model that requires an upfront entry fee – averaging $402,000 - $430,000 upfront. Though the range varies from as little as $40,000 to as much as $2 million! That cost does not take into account the monthly living or maintenance fee, which can rise over time. A less common option is CCRCs which offer a rental-type housing model with no upfront fee.

While senior housing in general has not fully recovered from the pandemic, Senior Housing News Reports that occupancy in life plan communities is outpacing non-life plan communities, with an occupancy rate of 87.2% - a 7% increase over the latter.

Within the industry, non-profit life plan communities are growing faster than for-profit models. Another interesting note is that entrance fee-based life plan communities have higher occupancy rates than rental life plan communities; no probable reason was given by the reporting agency (Ziegler / NIC MAP Vision Data).

Please check back next week as we cover the contract considerations, the related Medicare questions and an important aspect of quality assessment.

All my best,

Bobbi

Bobbi Decker
DRE#00607999

Broker Associate
650.346.5352 cell
650.577.3127 efax
www.bobbidecker.com


NAR Instructor….“Designations Create Distinctions”
CIPS, SRS, ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CLHMS, REI, AHWD, RSPS, MSLG

Bobbi Decker & Associates fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. For more information, please visit: http://portal.hud.gov/