SPECIAL E-Newsletter on OIR CCRC Reform
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation – 2025 Legislative Session
Continuing Care Retirement Community Legislation
Senate Bill 1656/House Bill 1429
FLiCRA has been in existence for thirty-six years this year. FLiCRA was established for one reason only and that is to represent the voice and interests of continuing care retirement community residents. That remains the organization’s mission to this day.
FLiCRA has been clear on the 2025 OIR CCRC reform package. There are specific concepts in the legislation that the organization believes protect resident rights and financial interests. FLiCRA has continued to publish information widely that addresses those specific concepts in the respective bills.
March 4, 2025, was the start of the sixty-day legislative session in Florida. The legislative process encompasses committee hearings and at each committee stop and between committee hearings, amendments are drafted, filed, modified and potentially adopted. The bill language you see on day one is rarely the same bill language on day sixty.
The decision of FLiCRA to support these specific concepts comes from the input of residents from around the state as board members and staff meet with fellow residents through phone calls, email communication and discussions at local meetings, regional meetings, and statewide association meetings.
FLiCRA recognizes that several concepts or proposals in the legislation have caused concern to some stakeholders. Those sections of the respective bills warrant further discussion to examine and determine what if any “real” negative cost impacts would be passed on to current and future residents. To date, no data has been presented to illustrate what actual cost impacts would be to resident monthly maintenance fees.
Again, during the committee hearing process, there is adequate time for amendments to be filed and debate that could mitigate concerns on specific sections of the respective bills. From FLiCRA’s understanding, there are already amendments being considered to be presented at the first committee stops. Such amendments likely address some of the input that OIR has received over the last few weeks as they (OIR) has communicated with various owner/operators and residents of Florida CCRCs.
Some owner/operators of CCRCs in Florida have asked and continue to ask their residents to write letters asking state legislators to “kill the OIR bill”.
However, before residents are compelled to write letters “to kill any bill”, each resident should ensure they have understanding of all the elements of proposed legislation to determine if some of the proposals on the table in a specific bill are actually beneficial to your rights as a resident, and/or do they further protect your financial interests.
Why are We Here?
Florida has continued to update Florida Statute 651 (first in 2019 and again in 2023) since the first University Village in Tampa, bankruptcy.
Nonetheless, as we know the community, last known as Unisen Senior Living closed its doors to residents in June 2024 after filing for bankruptcy a second time in April 2024.
What was once a thriving CCRC of over 550 residents in 2015 saw its last residents have to move out and find other housing. These residents endured undue and unthinkable stress in their golden years.
OIR as the regulatory agency overseeing the CCRC market has determined after witnessing the Unisen bankruptcy and its impact on residents that it needs stronger tools to avoid similar situations that impact resident rights and/or impact resident financial interests.
Deja Vu – A Look Back!
OIR filed its own CCRC reform bill in 2017. So, 2025 is not the first time the regulatory agency has put forth its own bill.
Here we are in 2025, and we are in the same place as 2017. Once again, some stakeholders are asking the Legislature to “kill the OIR bill” and FLiCRA has taken the same position it did in 2017. FLiCRA believes there are specific concepts in OIR’s draft legislation that warrant debate and potential adoption during the 2025 legislative session.
FLiCRA encourages residents to go back and read some of the public history on CCRC reform and the University Village and Unisen bankruptcies in Florida since 2017.
https://www.wptv.com/us-news/over-100-people-evicted-from-senior-care-facility-due-to-bankruptcy
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/04/18/arends-ccrcs-florida-need-reform/100562736
Second Bankruptcy Filing in 8 Years for Tampa Senior Living Facility – East Lake Tarpon
