MedPAC Makes Recommendations to Improve and Expand PACE - November 8, 2011

On Nov. 3, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) unanimously approved five new recommendations to Congress to improve and expand the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). PACE serves Medicare-Medicaid dually eligible beneficiaries who are nursing-home eligible and at least 55 years of age. MedPAC’s recommendations to improve PACE include the following:

1. Improve the Medicare Advantage (MA) risk adjustment system, pay PACE providers based on improved MA benchmarks, and permit PACE providers to participate in quality bonus programs.
2. Remove the age limit for eligibility for PACE.
3. Prorate Medicare capitation payments for partial-month enrollees.
4. Create a temporary outlier protection for all new PACE sites for the first 3 years.
5. Develop appropriate risk-adjusted quality measures to enable PACE providers to participate in the MA quality bonus program by 2015.