By Julie Pfitzinger
New data shed light on CCaH program characteristics and on members’ marital status, assets, and hospital readmission rates.
The average age of older adults enrolling in Continuing Care at Home (CCaH) programs has remained steady at 76, while the share of married couples who join the program has risen from 61% in 2018 to 71% in 2025. The average time from a prospective member’s initial inquiry to application for admission has decreased slightly but remains about five months.
These are some of the trends reported during a presentation at the June 9 LeadingAge 2026 CCaH Virtual Care Conference. The presentation shared new benchmarking data on CCaH programs collected by Molly Wylie, a research associate at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, and Amanda Young of Edenwald Senior Living and MAL Consulting LLC.
Continuing Care at Home (CCaH) is a long-term care service model that offers older adults living in their own homes a suite of services similar to those found in a life plan community. The CCaH Virtual Conference shared practical strategies and peer learning to help providers build, strengthen, and sustain CCaH programs.
About the Benchmarking Survey
The benchmarking presentation drew on data from a 54-question online survey distributed in January 2026.
“We sent the survey to our running list of 45 providers that have a CCaH program that’s gotten off the ground—maybe they are just starting, or maybe they’ve been around for several years,” said Wylie, adding that the average age of CCaH programs is 12 years. The list of CCaH providers has grown significantly since the first CCaH benchmarking survey was fielded in 2018. Only eight providers received the survey that year. Of the 45 providers who received the 2025 survey, 31 replied—a nearly 70% response rate.
“That’s better than we get in many surveys, and we’re always looking for more participation,” said Wylie. “Unlike other surveys in which participants don’t always directly benefit from the findings, the purpose of the benchmarking survey is for providers to use (the data) firsthand.”
The survey data covers a range of topics:
- Program profiles, including years in operation, number of team members, types of plans offered, and the customer relationship management and electronic health record systems used.
- Member demographics, including age, gender, marital status, LGBTQ+ identification, and race/ethnicity.
- Program outreach and marketing, including the marketing budget, new inquiries, the number of touchpoints from inquiry to application, and the top three lead sources.
- Member services and outcomes, including the number of members with long-term care insurance, the number of hospitalizations and readmissions, and members’ use of long-term and short-term services and supports.
Member Demographics
Wylie noted that the average number of current members per program is 155. Approximately 6,500 current CCaH members are represented in the data.
Wylie described these member characteristics:
- Age: CCaH members range in age from 69 to 82, with an average age of 80. While programs are considering how to attract younger members, the average enrollment age has not changed.
- Gender: The member population is 60% female and 40% male, with the ratio remaining unchanged.
- Marital Status: The percentage of single females has declined from 29% to 22%, while the number of married couples has increased. This trend is notable to researchers and providers. “The question is how to make CCaH attractive to couples if they have different physical needs,” said Wylie. “And if you have a spouse, maybe you can stay at home longer given the availability of informal care.”
Tracking Hospitalizations
In 2025, 5.5% of CCaH members were hospitalized; the top three reasons were falls, planned surgeries, and illness or infection. The average hospital readmission rate was 8.6%, compared with the Medicare average of 14.6%.
“We can’t yet say that Continuing Care at Home is the reason for this lower readmission rate,” said Wylie. “We can just look at the differences between people. We are seeing healthier 76-year-olds (enter CCaH programs) than the average 76-year-old, but from a research standpoint, it’s something we want to explore.”
The Cost Barrier
Both researchers and providers closely monitor the median assets of CCaH members, Wylie said.
“On average, members had median assets of over two million dollars, and that figure has actually increased over time,” she said. “That begs the question, how do we make (Continuing Care at Home) affordable for the middle market?”
Other data changes tracked in the benchmarking survey include:
- Marketing: Provider budgets increased by $20,000 between 2024 and 2025.
- Wellness coordinators: The ratio of wellness coordinators to CCaH members decreased from 70:1 to 57:1 over the same period.
Value of Benchmarking Data
CCaH benchmarking data can help educate providers about the CCaH program, inform program strategy, and provide a learning opportunity for new and emerging providers.
The data also affects CCaH members, according to Amy Hutchins, chief marketing officer at WesleyLife, a LeadingAge member in Iowa.
“(The benchmarking data) brings them peace of mind as they explore and try to understand the program,” Hutchins said in a May 2026 LeadingAge article. “It helps us to say to them, ‘This might be new to our market, but this is nationwide.’”
Erin Strain, executive director of LeadingAge member Givens Choice in Asheville, NC, who assisted Wylie at the June CCaH Virtual Conference, said that her members always wait for the benchmarking data to be released each year.
“It helps legitimize their investment,” Wylie said of Strain’s comments.
The 2026 Survey
Wylie and Young will curate the 2026 CCaH survey at the end of this year, and LeadingAge will release a new survey in January 2027.
“The questions rarely change dramatically, but we do take into consideration questions that are raised by providers,” said Wylie. “There are a few things we might look into. People are interested in the average entrance fee paid to providers, and they also ask about the prevalence of specific program offerings, including whether CCaH programs offer a full spectrum of services or only care coordination.”
For More Information
To learn more about the CCaH benchmarking survey, download the slides from the CCaH Virtual Care Conference presentation.