HHS Finalizes PACE Program – HCBS Will Not Be Included

ANCOR is sharing this article by Politico Pro because some of our members participate in the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). In 2016, ANCOR led disability and National PACE Association coalition discussions with the Obama Administration Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on whether PACE should be extended to Medicaid’s Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) program for people with intellectual / developmental disabilities (I/DD) under age 55. The Adapted PACE Protocol emerged from this discussion. However, note that at this time the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Trump Administration declined to extend the program from elderly populations to people with I/DD under 55 – that discussion starts on page 86 of the final rule.

As shared by Politico Pro:

“The Trump administration this afternoon finalized a long-delayed rule aimed at keeping frail seniors out of nursing homes and other institutional settings.

HHS is updating the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, which designates organizations across the country to provide social and medical services to seniors in their homes, community settings or designated centers. Backers say the program’s rules were sorely in need of an update to allow the organizations to operate more efficiently and grow faster.

Specifically, the new rule provides more administrative and regulatory flexibilities, such as letting one member of the care team serve in multiple roles — which the administration says will let PACE organizations ‘provide more seamless and tailored care.’ Certain care providers could provide some services instead of a primary care physician.

The Obama administration in 2016 proposed the first update to the program since 2006, and program supporters in Congress frustrated by the delay finalizing the rule proposed bipartisan bills to set deadlines for the Trump administration.

The final rule also includes patient protections, such as sanctions and civil monetary penalties for PACE organizations that don’t comply with the rules.”