PACE programs coordinate and provide all needed preventive, primary, acute and long-term care services so older individuals can continue living in the community. PACE is an innovative model that enables individuals age 55 and over and certified by their state to need nursing home care to live as independently as possible. Through PACE, today's fragmented health care financing and delivery system comes together to serve the unique needs of each individual in a way that makes sense to the frail elderly, their informal caregivers, health care providers and policy-makers.

PACE Programs Offer High-Quality Care and Are Cost-Effective

• PACE utilizes interdisciplinary teams – which include physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, therapists, van drivers and aides – to exchange information and solve problems as the conditions and needs of PACE participants change, all with the objective of enabling them to live longer in the community.
• PACE provides participants regular access to physicians and other primary care professionals who know them and specialize in caring for older people.
• PACE participants have improved health status and quality of life, lower mortality rates, increased choice in how time is spent, and greater confidence in dealing with life's problems.
• The PACE financing model combines payments from Medicare and Medicaid or private pay sources into one flat-rate payment to provide the entire range of health care and services, including paying for hospital care, in response to individual needs.
• PACE utilizes transportation systems to enable participants to live as independently as possible in the community while having access to the supportive services, medical specialists, therapies and other medical care they need.

Characteristics of PACE Participants

• The average age of PACE participants is 77, and 70 percent of participants are female.
• The average PACE participant has 7.9 medical conditions, many of which are chronic conditions that include diabetes, dementia, coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease.
• While most PACE participants live alone in the community, approximately 5 percent live in nursing homes for which the PACE program pays.