Ms. Biteranta now receives all of her health care through PACE, which monitors her, along with 120 other seniors, meticulously. PACE supplies much of her social life, too.
“Here, they schedule you for appointments,” said Ms. Biteranta, 74, a retired nurse. “They send someone to take you and bring you home.”
Carpal tunnel syndrome in her wrists and arms makes personal care and household chores difficult, so PACE sends an aide to her home 12 hours a week. “She cleans and does my laundry and the shopping,” Ms. Biteranta said. “She knows the food I like.”
PACE provided the portable oxygen unit that freed her from dependence on the larger oxygen tanks she uses at home. It arranged cataract surgery and regularly ferries her to a podiatrist, a cardiologist, an endocrinologist and other specialists. It delivers a host of medications at no charge, including asthma inhalers and diabetes-testing supplies. A staff social worker helped her apply for and move into an apartment in a subsidized building for seniors.
As a Medicaid beneficiary, she pays nothing for this care — no co-pays, deductibles or other out-of-pocket care expenses, and no caps on benefits. Should she require more home care hours or, eventually, a nursing home, PACE will cover those costs, too.
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