They don't trust the "institution". My parents are slowly deciding that they need more help than what Home Health, me, my daughter, my brother and his 2 daughters can provide as far as caregiving. They can afford to pay for assisted living. They are not veterans. They don't qualify for Medicaid. They only thing holding them back is that mom is afraid the assisted living facility will take over all of their assets. Even if they can afford to pay on their own, will these places still ask for their financial information?
If your parents run out of money, they generally just leave the facility. My mom has lots of friends who ran out of money over the years and had to find another place to live. But the facility never took their home, etc. My mom lives in a place that she just pays each month, it's not one where you have to buy your way in. Maybe your folks are thinking about those kinds of places?