Legislation targeting financial reporting and transparency requirements for North Carolina continuing care retirement / life plan communities has been drafted with the help — and support — of the senior living industry.
SB 105 / HB 357 would boost financial reporting by requiring quarterly financial statements, require timely notification to residents and the state if entrance fee refunds will be delayed, require transparency in bylaws and other organizational documents, and require specific information in disclosure statements to allow easier comparison among communities.
The legislation is the result of a 20-member task force of state regulators, CCRC leaders, industry professionals and residents who met over 18 months to hammer out an update to a 30-year-old statute.
Although not everyone “got what they wanted,” LeadingAge North Carolina President and CEO Tom Akins said, the process was collaborative.
“I think where this improves the field is that the statute we had on the book was 30 years old,” Atkins said. “Financing mechanisms, legal entity mechanisms, consumer preferences all changed in that time.”
He said that the North Carolina Department of Insurance, which regulates the financial side of CCRCs, created good partnerships with industry and resident associations through the task force.
“It has reaffirmed my faith in the ability of people to get together when they don’t necessarily agree on everything and still make progress,” Atkins said.
From the residents’ perspective, Charles “Skip” Kingan, president of the North Carolina Continuing Care Residents Association, said that the legislation “more or less” guarantees that the continuum of care promised by CCRCs will be there for all the stages of residents’ lives.
Kingan called SB 105 / HB 357 “a good bill” that has the support of the industry, providers and residents.
“I think one of the biggest things to come out of it is there’s more transparency to the residents than there has been in the past,” Kingan told McKnight’s Senior Living. “We’re hoping with this new piece of legislation, that it’s going to strengthen the oversight by the Department of Insurance and make the CCRCs financially stronger.”
Source: McKnights Seniorliving
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