Lakeland Senior AdvisorHow is a CCRC different from an assisted living facility in Florida?
A continuing care retirement community (life plan community) sells a contract, usually with an entrance fee, promising housing plus access to assisted living and nursing care for life or a long term, under the Office of Insurance Regulation and Chapter 651; a rental ALF charges month to month for current care and holds only an AHCA license.
The care sections inside a CCRC still need AHCA licenses of their own: an ALF license for assisted living and a nursing home license for the health center.
Who is a good candidate for a life plan community?
Typically a healthy retiree or couple able to move into independent living, who wants a guaranteed route to more care on the same campus and has the assets for an entrance fee; most CCRCs admit people only while they are still independent.
A person who already needs help every day is usually better served by rental assisted living, which admits on the basis of current needs.
Can a Florida CCRC entrance fee be refunded?
It depends on the contract: Florida guarantees a seven-day rescission period with a full refund, and for contracts without a transferable ownership right, refunds after move-in are pro-rated, with the provider keeping no more than 2 percent per month of occupancy plus a processing fee of up to 5 percent, unless an approved alternative refund plan applies.
Details: contracts and refunds under s. 651.055.
How many life plan communities are in Polk County?
Two: Florida OIR's October 2025 CCRC map lists Westminster Lakeland and Estates at Carpenter's, both in Lakeland, out of 74 communities statewide.
Each has a profile in our life plan community section with the AHCA-licensed care units found at its address. Winter Haven, Bartow and the ridge towns have no OIR-listed CCRC.
Can someone who already needs care move into a Lakeland life plan community?
Sometimes: some campuses rent assisted living or memory care apartments directly to outside applicants under an ordinary residency agreement rather than a continuing care contract, so the resident pays monthly like any rental ALF and gets no lifetime care promise.
Ask which agreement you are being offered; only a continuing care contract carries Chapter 651's protections.
Side by side
| Life plan community | Rental assisted living | |
|---|---|---|
| Regulators | OIR for the contract and finances, AHCA for care units | AHCA alone |
| Payment | Entrance fee plus a monthly fee | Monthly rent plus care charges |
| Move-in | Normally while still independent | Once care is needed |
Built from Chapters 408, 429 and 651, Florida Statutes; Florida Administrative Code chapters 59A-36 and 65A-2; AHCA, DCF, OIR and Department of Elder Affairs publications; and the CareScout and VA rate tables cited on this page. Our editorial standards explain how each figure is checked.
