March 7, 2016 | by Pamela Tabar

Ziegler, My LifeSite launch state reports on CCRCs

CCRC types

Type A: Entry fee. Monthly service fee remains the same over a resident’s lifetime except for nominal adjustments.

Type B: Entry fee. Over time, the resident is responsible for part of the increase in expenses related to care and/or assisted living.

Type C:  Entry fee. Resident’s monthly service fee will reflect the market rates for care.

Type D: Rental contract with no entry fee. Resident may have to pay a “community fee,” and will be responsible for the cost of care. No guarantee of care over time.

Type E: Equity/co-op. Residents either purchase their units or purchase a stake in the company. For care, the CCRC usually applies a Type B or C contract.

National senior investment banking firm Ziegler and Raleigh, N.C.-based My LifeSite have partnered to develop a series of state-by-state reports on continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), also called life plan communities.  Each report will capture data on CCRCs, including their contract types, organizational characteristics, pricing structures, Medicare certifications and benchmarking.

The first report focuses on Maryland and its 34 CCRCs, which serve more than 16,500 residents. Some of the data from the state snapshot:

  • 85 percent of Maryland’s CCRCs are not-for-profit, and two-thirds are single-site providers.
  • More than half the state’s CCRCs have been in operation for more than 26 years.
  • 71 percent of CCRCs are certified through Medicare and Medicaid, while 23 percent are Medicare only.
  • Entry fees range from $158,000 to about $520,000.

The reports will also gather valuable data on pricing models, which could help track shifts in contract trends and fee ratios. For example, more than half the CCRCs in the state use the Type C contract model. Another 32 percent use the Type A model. Only 21 percent of all CCRCs offer more than one contract option. About three-quarters of CCRCs offer at least a 90-percent refund on the contract.

The two companies plan to produce reports for as many states as possible and hope to create the next report by the end of second quarter, Brad Breeding, President and co-founder of My LifeSite, told Long-Term Living. To ease data-gathering challenges, the efforts will focus first on the states that have regulatory bodies for CCRCs, meaning the information is made publicly available by the state.

Everything needed for the reports is contained in a CCRC's most recent disclosure statement,  Breeding says. In lieu of a disclosure statement, a provider can submit a copy of a sample residency contract, audited financials and pricing. Documents can be emailed to info@mylifesite.net or alternatively arranged by calling Breeding at 919-594-1370.

"If every CCRC would take five minutes to email their document to us, we would do the rest of the work," he explains. "The more we can get the industry's participation in helping us reach our vision, the more we can help the industry by providing valuable benchmarking reports and more."

To learn more about the report program, visit www.mylifesite.net and click on "benchmarking reports" in the bottom navigation bar.

 

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