Relating to the regulation of continuing care facilities.
Summary
SB 1522 revises Texas law governing continuing care facilities, including continuing care retirement communities and related contracts. The bill updates key definitions, clarifies that continuing care can include access to assisted living, nursing facility, and home and community support services, and expands resident rights protections for people receiving care in licensed nursing home or assisted living portions of a facility. It also requires facilities to provide residents or prospective residents a copy of the most recent disclosure statement on request and preserves residents’ ability to assemble.
The bill also creates an exemption from Chapter 246 for certain residential communities that charge an entrance fee but provide assisted living and nursing home services strictly on a fee-for-service basis, so long as they use a required disclosure statement making clear they are not licensed continuing care facilities. In addition, it tightens and modernizes rules for certificates of authority, advertising, contract rescission and cancellation, escrow of entrance fees and deposits, release of escrowed funds for new construction or expansion, return of fees in certain events, and periodic actuarial reviews. The bill takes effect January 1, 2026, and applies the revised continuing care definition only to providers certified on or after that date.
Impact
SB 1522 amends Chapter 246 of the Health and Safety Code, which regulates continuing care facilities in Texas. It changes statutory definitions, modifies disclosure and advertising requirements, updates escrow and refund rules for entrance fees and deposits, and gives the commissioner authority to reject a certificate application if the applicant does not own the real property for the facility. It also repeals one actuarial-review provision and requires actuarial reviews at least every five years, with more frequent reviews allowed in certain circumstances. The bill affects providers of continuing care contracts, retirement communities, residents and prospective residents, escrow agents, and the Texas Department of Insurance.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the Senate 31-0, the House 141-0 with one present not voting, and the Senate later concurred in the House amendment without recorded opposition. The unanimous votes suggest the legislation was viewed as a technical and consumer-protection update rather than a controversial policy change.
Contention
No committee transcript was provided, and the voting record shows no recorded floor opposition. The main substantive issue reflected in the text is the line-drawing between licensed continuing care facilities and fee-for-service residential communities that charge entrance fees but do not want to be regulated as continuing care providers. Another potential point of concern is the bill’s expanded disclosure, escrow, and financial-soundness requirements, which may impose additional compliance obligations on providers and escrow agents, though the record provided does not show active disagreement over those changes.