State Advocacy Toolkit for Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

Given the important role of the state in PACE oversight, access, growth and sustainability, advocacy efforts can make a critical difference in ensuring state officials know and understand the PACE model.

Being a State PACE Advocate

Definition of Advocacy

Advocacy is a coordinated combination of problem identification, solution creation, strategy development, and actions taken to make a positive change.

Why State Advocacy?

Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) operate through a three-way partnership among the provider, the federal government and the state. While the federal government develops and implements federal PACE regulatory requirements, states play a critical role in key policy decisions:

PACE growth in the state (i.e., number of PACE organizations, total number of participants);
site selection;
licensing and certification requirements;
Upper Payment Limits (UPLs) and Medicaid capitation rate-setting;
program eligibility requirements and determination processes; and
Medicaid enrollment and disenrollment systems.

Given the important role of the state in PACE oversight, access, growth and sustainability, advocacy efforts can make a critical difference in ensuring state officials know and understand the PACE model. However, some state officials have limited awareness and understanding of PACE. If an issue arises and a PACE organization needs help from its legislators, there may not be time to educate and make PACE a priority for them. Thus, it is critical for PACE organizations to create legislative champions and cultivate those relationships on an ongoing basis, even if there is no current threat or immediate request.

What Does It Mean to Be a PACE Advocate?

It is up to PACE advocates (like you!) to educate and remind state officials and leaders how PACE serves and provides high-quality, coordinated care to their constituents. It also is important to continue offering solutions to the barriers that PACE organizations face. Ongoing advocacy efforts work, and they do not have to take a lot of time. However, the National PACE Association (NPA) acknowledges advocacy can be intimidating if it has never been done before. Therefore, NPA has developed a State PACE Advocacy Toolkit that offers resources to be an effective advocate.

Advocacy Toolkit

APIQ Model Practices and Resources

The Alliance for PACE Innovation and Quality (APIQ) has developed model practices and resources to expand access to and assure the quality of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). With each model practice, APIQ has provided additional resources for states to use when implementing the policy.

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