The Rural PACE Pilot Grant Program, established under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 by Congress and administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), provided 15 providers with start-up funds to develop PACE organizations serving rural elders. The rural providers funded in the grant are as follows:

AllCare of Arkansas, Jonesboro, AR
Volunteers of America, Grand Junction/Montrose, CO
Hale Makua, Kahului, HI
Hospice of Siouxland, Sioux City, IA
Billings Clinic Foundation, Billings, MT
Community Care of Western New York, Olean, NY
Piedmont Health Services, Carrboro, NC
Northland Healthcare Alliance, Bismarck, ND
Geisinger Health System Foundation, Danville, PA
Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania, Chambersburg, PA
The Methodist Oaks, Orangeburg, SC
PACE Vermont, Rutland, VT
Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens, Cedar Bluff, VA
Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Big Stone Gap, VA
CAMC Health Ed and Research, Charleston, WV

Federal Legislative History

Many prospective rural PACE providers worked with their senators and representatives to build Congressional support for the rural PACE pilot grant program. NPA is particularly grateful to the original sponsors of the grant program, Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Sen. Sam Brownback, and to cosponsors Sen. James Jeffords, Sen. Byron Dorgan, Sen. Kent Conrad and Sen. Norm Coleman.  NPA is also thankful for the critical support of Sen. Charles Grassley, Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Jay Rockefeller for their strong support of the inclusion of the rural grant program in the Deficit Reduction Act.

S.1932 Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 Sec.6113 Rural PACE Provider Grant Program Definitions, February 2006

Conference Report Language on Rural PACE Provider Grant Program, February 2006

Grant Announcement Issued by CMS (Note: Grant applications are no longer being accepted.)

Evaluation of the Rural PACE Provider Grant Program, Report to Congress, January 2011

CMS issued a Report to Congress on the evaluation of the Rural PACE Provider Grant Program in January 2011. 

The report found that PACE sites that were able to overcome the challenges of starting an innovative model of care in a rural area have been able to experience the multitude of benefits associated with PACE. Qualitative data gleaned from conversations with PACE directors, staff and participants suggest that the rural PACE program preserves, enhances, and, in many cases, restores the independence, health and well-being of its participants. PACE also reduces burden among family caregivers, thereby allowing them to be more productive members of their communities. There may be an additional positive ripple effect created when PACE organizations in rural communities become established enough to require full time staff in that PACE both creates full time jobs and also fortifies local small businesses to stimulate the economy of rural America. The reports finds overall favorable experience by the rural PACE pilot sites, as well as their beneficiaries and communities, in the early phases of implementation.