The State of Washington is setting the stage for a strong CCRC environment by addressing core concerns raised by residents about financial soundness; the latest legislation requires Continuing Care and Life Plan Communities who offer “life care contracts,” to conduct “actuarial analyses” and to file written, certified reports. A central purpose of the process is to determine the company’s “ability to meet its overall contract obligations under life care contracts . . . under moderately adverse conditions,” in accordance with professional standards. See new Section 5 of the law.

Here is a link to the Legislature’s new bill, which will require actuarial reports prepared by qualified actuaries to accompany applications for new registrations, and also for renewed registrations, at four-year intervals.

The law directs the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to develop and implement processes for state review of the newly submitted financial information.

Stay on top of the latest action on this law (and future events) through updates provided by the Washington Continuing Care Residents Association (WACCRA), including the latest news about key elements of the bill signed into law on 3.23.26. While you are stopping by their website, I recommend also looking at WACCRA’s Consumer Guide to Continuing Care Retirement and Life Plan Communities. The 4th edition was updated recently and provides an excellent discussion of how to evaluate and appreciate the promises made by these important senior-living programs.

Photo of Katherine C. Pearson Katherine C. Pearson

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues…

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues in her teaching of courses on contract law, conflicts of law and nonprofit organizations law.  She is a regular speaker for continuing education programs, both for consumers and lawyers, to address cutting edge concerns in consumer protection for older adults.  She is the author of articles and chapters on access to justice, senior living options including continuing care and life plan communities, long-term care financing and filial obligations, and is the co-author of a treatise, The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (Bisel 2011).

She authored chapters for the Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, published in 2024 as part of a series on law and society handbooks offered by international publisher Edward Elgar. She is a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar in Canada and was in residence at the University of Ottawa in the Fall of 2024 as the Research Chair in Health Law, Policy and Ethics.  Her earlier experience as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar (based at the Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, and working in Ireland, Portugal, and the U.K. in 2009-10), resulted in publications, including an article with an international, historical perspective on ethical concerns for attorneys representing older adults, entitled “The Lesson of the Irish Family Pub,” published by Stetson Law Review.

Read more about Katherine C. PearsonEmailKatherine C.'s Linkedin Profile
Show more Show less