Medicare Nation

Welcome! My guest today is Peter Fitzgerald, who is the Executive Vice President for Policy and Strategy for the National PACE Association (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.) The PACE program helps guide the association policy and advocacy efforts at the federal and state levels. The program is always looking to improve services for those needing long-term care. What is the PACE program and its history? PACE provides all the programs that the elderly need, from health care services to long-term care, all designed to keep seniors living in a community-based setting at home. It began as a pilot program in Chinatown in San Francisco, because the Chinese culture is based strongly on keeping elders at home with their families and out of nursing homes. Alternatives were explored to keep them living in the community with some assistance. The program began with a Daycenter that provided meals and healthcare and remedied the social isolation that some seniors feel. Over time, more services were added to