On Wednesday, July 18, 2012,
Dr. Dory Funk, MD – medical director for Volunteers of America’s Senior
CommUnity Care in Montrose, Colo. – testified before the United States
Senate Special Committee on Aging in support of Program of All-Inclusive
Care for the Elderly (PACE) programs and their continued expansion.Funk testified on behalf of 86 PACE programs in 29 states nationwide
that enroll approximately 25,000 frail seniors.
Funk’s testimony, provided in collaboration with the National PACE Association, supported the expansion of access to PACE programs for
people who are “dual eligible” for both Medicare and Medicaid, based on a
combination of low income, old age and/or disability. Currently, PACE
programs are only available to those aged 55 and older, and are only
offered in a limited number of communities.
“Given the experience of Senior CommUnity Care and other PACE
organizations who have experimented with these flexibilities, we believe
PACE programs would be able to adopt these changes while still
providing high-quality, cost-effective care to some of our nation’s
vulnerable citizens,” Funk said in his testimony. “When Volunteers of
America approached me about being the medical director for this
‘experimental program,’ I was thoroughly skeptical about its potential
benefits or viability. The great changes in [Senior CommUnity Care]
participants lives, as well as an uplifting of general geriatric medical
care and social awareness in out communities has made me a true
believer in the PACE model of care.”
PACE programs provide comprehensive health services plus meals,
transportation and social interaction to seniors at central centers as
an alternative to nursing homes. These services allow residents to
remain in their communities, enjoying the comforts of home and family,
for as long as possible. People enrolled in PACE must be certified by
their state to need nursing home care, are able to live safely in the
community at the time of enrollment, and live in a PACE service area. On
any given day, PACE allows more than 90 percent of its participants to
remain in their own homes, rather than moving permanently into nursing
homes. Of these participants, 90 percent are eligible for both Medicare
and Medicaid.
Lawmakers present included committee chair Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.),
ranking member Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and committee members Sens.
Michael Bennett (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ronald Johnson
(R-Wis.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).