What Families Should Know: States Are Requiring More Transparency From Senior Living Referral Companies

When a family begins looking for Assisted Living or Memory Care for a Loved One, one of the first resources many of them find is a senior care referral company. These services position themselves as free advisors who help families navigate a confusing market. And in many respects, they do provide a useful service.

But the business model of these services is rarely made clear upfront. The referral company is almost never paid by the family. It is paid by the Community that the family ultimately chooses. And those fees can be substantial.

That is the Transparency Gap. And across the country, state legislatures are beginning to close it.

This page summarizes what each of the eight states reviewed actually requires, where the gaps remain, and what families can do right now to protect themselves regardless of which state they live in.

What Is a Senior Care Referral Company?

Senior care referral companies (sometimes called placement agencies or senior living advisors) offer families a list of Communities that may be appropriate for a Loved One. They conduct intake interviews, tour Communities on a family's behalf, and help narrow the options. In many cases, their staff have genuine knowledge of the local market.

The defining feature of commission-driven referral services is their payment structure. When a family places a Loved One in a Community recommended by the service, the Community pays the referral company a fee. The family pays nothing directly. The fee is typically not disclosed unless the family asks, and in most states, there is no legal requirement to disclose the exact dollar amount.

Family

Looking for help to find the right Community

Shares info with↓→

Referral Service

Recommends Communities it has contracts with

Recommends↓→

Senior Living Community

Where the family moves their Loved One

The referral service is paid by the Community, not the family, so it's incentivized to recommend whichever Communities it has fee agreements with, not the best fit for your Loved One.

Referral fees paid to placement companies can equal one to one-and-a-half months of a Resident's rent. At prevailing Assisted Living rates, that can mean a fee of $4,000 to $10,000 or more. The family learns about the fee only if they ask.

The following summaries are drawn from publicly available state statutes, administrative codes, and legislative summaries. Laws can change; verify current status with a licensed attorney in your state. This is not legal advice.

The Common Thread and the Common Gap

Across every state reviewed, there is a shared pattern. Each state that has enacted legislation has moved toward requiring some form of disclosure and, in most cases, some form of consumer consent. That is meaningful progress. Families in those seven states have at least a legal basis for expecting a conversation about financial relationships before they engage a referral service. Missouri has tried twice, in 2025 and again in 2026, and both attempts followed the same pattern but failed before becoming law, a reminder that this protection isn't guaranteed just because a bill is introduced.

What Families Should Demand (Regardless of State Law)

State law sets a floor. It does not set a ceiling. Regardless of where you live, families navigating Senior Living decisions have the right to ask direct questions and expect direct answers. Below is a practical checklist for any interaction with a commission-driven referral service.

Why This Matters for Employers, Too

The Sandwich Generation is a segment of the workforce facing simultaneous pressure from aging parents and dependent children. When an employee spends weeks managing an opaque Senior Living search process, the impact is not just personal. It shows up in absenteeism, reduced productivity, and, in some cases, early exits from the workforce entirely.

Employers who invest in transparent, conflict-free eldercare resources for their workforce are not just offering a benefit. They are addressing a structural productivity issue that is growing as the workforce ages. The Senior Living referral transparency problem is, at its core, also an HR problem.

How Petunia Approaches This Differently

Petunia was built specifically to address the conflict of interest at the center of the commission-driven referral model. Petunia does not receive referral fees from Communities. Petunia is not paid by the Community a family ultimately chooses. The service is paid for by the employer as a benefit, or directly by the family at a transparent flat rate.

That structure changes the relationship entirely. When Petunia recommends a Community, it is because the Community is a good fit for the Loved One, not because the Community offers the highest referral fee. Families get the guidance of a knowledgeable Senior Living Advisor without the hidden financial incentives that can distort the advice.

Petunia provides employees and their families with the guidance and expertise of a seasoned Senior Living Advisor without the conflicts of interest the old model creates.