PACE: All-Inclusive Health Care So Older Adults Can Stay at Home
“I don’t want to leave my home.”
It’s something many families hear when a father, mother or grandparent starts to need more help.
Doctor’s appointments pile up, medications become hard to keep track of, and the person providing care starts to feel stretched too thin.
Many families believe the only way out is a nursing home.
But in Massachusetts there is another option: the PACE program.
What is PACE?
PACE stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.
According to Mass.gov, PACE works with MassHealth and Medicare.
It offers medical, social, recreational and wellness services with one clear goal: helping people live safely at home.
The big difference is that everything is coordinated by one team.
Instead of the family running between doctors, pharmacies, therapies and transportation, the program organizes the person’s complete care.
What does it include?
According to Element Care, one of the PACE organizations in Massachusetts, the program can include:
- Primary care and nursing, including medication management.
- Behavioral health and social work.
- Physical, occupational and speech therapy.
- Nutrition counseling and meals.
- Dental, vision and hearing care.
- Transportation to the day center and to medical appointments.
- Home visits and personal care at home.
- Hospital care and, if needed, nursing home care.
- A day center with social activities, exercise, breakfast and lunch.
A team that takes care of everything
In PACE, each person has a care team: doctors, nurses, therapists, dietitians, social workers and personal care specialists.
According to Element Care, its team meets every morning to review how each participant is doing and adjust their care plan.
That plan is tailored to the person and takes into account their medical history, cultural values and interests.
Many participants go to the day center a few days a week.
There they see their doctors, receive therapy, eat, exercise and spend time with others, and then they go home to sleep.
Who can enroll?
According to Mass.gov, to enroll in PACE a person must:
- Be 55 or older. People ages 55 to 64 also need a disability determination.
- Need a nursing home level of care, as certified by the state.
- Be able to live safely at home with the program’s support.
- Live in the service area of a PACE organization.
- Agree to receive their health care through PACE.
You don’t need to have MassHealth to enroll.
The PACE organization’s team helps review whether the person qualifies.
How much does it cost?
This is one of the most common questions, and the answer is usually good news.
- According to Mass.gov, if the person meets MassHealth’s income and asset limits, MassHealth may pay the PACE premium.
- According to Element Care, people with MassHealth only, or with both MassHealth and Medicare, pay no premium and no copays.
- People with Medicare only or private insurance pay a monthly premium, but have no copays or other costs for approved care.
- People with Medicare don’t lose it when they enroll: they keep paying their Medicare premium, and Medicare covers part of the cost of PACE.
Element Care also helps people find out whether they qualify and complete the MassHealth application.
What to know before you enroll
- All care goes through PACE. Once enrolled, the person receives primary and specialist care through the program, except in emergencies. That’s why it’s worth discussing as a family.
- Don’t cancel your insurance or your appointments until enrollment is complete.
- You can leave at any time. According to Element Care, disenrollment takes effect on the first day of the following month, and the person returns to their previous coverage.
How to enroll, step by step
According to Element Care, the process works like this:
- Call the PACE organization in your area.
- Get a home visit: a specialist reviews whether the person qualifies, explains the costs and helps with the paperwork.
- Complete the application. The MassHealth application can take about a month.
- Visit the center and meet the care team.
- Sign the enrollment papers and build the personalized care plan.
PACE in Massachusetts
According to Mass.gov, there are at least eight PACE organizations in the state, and each one serves certain areas.
PACE is not yet available on Cape Cod or the Islands (Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties).
To find out which one serves you, check the list of PACE service areas or the page How to enroll and receive care under PACE.
Welcome, Element Care, to My Health Fair
We’re happy to welcome Element Care PACE as a new table at our virtual health fair.
Element Care is a nonprofit organization founded on the North Shore three decades ago.
Today it serves adults 55 and older in Essex County, the Merrimack Valley and parts of Greater Boston.
This includes cities with large Latino populations such as Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Methuen, Haverhill and Salem.
It has centers in Beverly, Brighton, Gloucester, Lowell, Lynn and Methuen, plus an alternate site in Chelmsford.
- Phone: 877-803-5564 (TTY 711)
- Interpreter services: 844-465-3525
- Email: info@elementcare.org
Visit the Element Care table at My Health Fair to learn more and get your questions answered: https://myhealthfair.com/
Support for caregivers
Caring for a loved one is an act of love, but it can also be exhausting.
According to Element Care, the PACE team handles communication with doctors, appointments, transportation and follow-up.
That way, the family can go back to its rightful role: keeping their loved one company, showing affection and balancing caregiving with work and family life.
If you care for an older adult who needs more and more help, PACE may be an option worth discussing as a family.
At My Health Fair, we believe our elders deserve to age with dignity, close to their families and in their own homes.
Learning about options like PACE is the first step toward caring for them better, and toward caring for ourselves as caregivers, too.
Share this article with someone who needs it. Find more health resources at myhealthfair.com.
