Continuing Care Retirement Communities

Due to past occurrences of bankruptcy in the CCRC community, different regulatory methods have been established to protect the consumer and help bolster the image of CCRCs. As of 1997, there were thirty-seven states that had specific regulatory requirements for CCRCS—up from twenty-eight in 1988 (Brod, 1997). Each state has different requirements for licensing and accreditation. These requirements include financial disclosure, consumer protection, refund provisions, and resident contracts (Somers and Spears, 1992). The federal government has little involvement in the regulatory process, but does regulate those nursing homes located within CCRCs that rely on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement.

Fearful that increased federal regulations will potentially raise costs, the industry has also established its own regulatory and accreditation system—the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission, established in 1985, has set standards "focusing on finance, governance, residential life, and health care" within CCRCs (Sanders, 1997, p. 16).