The PACE Program in Palm Beach County: Who Qualifies, What It Covers and How to Apply

PACE replaces a patchwork of doctors, plans and home-care agencies with one organization that's paid a set amount each month and is responsible for all of your care. An interdisciplinary team of a doctor, nurses, therapists, a social worker, aides and drivers plans and delivers it. Many participants attend a PACE center a few days a week for care, meals and activities, and receive help at home on other days.

According to Medicare.gov, PACE covers all Medicare- and Medicaid-covered care, plus anything else the team decides you need. That includes:

primary care, specialists, hospital care and prescription drugs; home care, personal care, and physical, occupational and speech therapy; adult day care with meals at the PACE center, and dentistry; transportation to the center and to appointments; nursing home care, when medically necessary.

The trade-off is choice. When you enroll, you acknowledge that the PACE organization will be your sole service provider (42 CFR 460.154(p)). Your long-time doctor may not be part of the team. Medicare also warns that joining a separate Part D drug plan ends PACE enrollment.

Under federal rules, you must (42 CFR 460.150):

be 55 or older; be found by the state to need the level of care required for Medicaid nursing facility services; live in the PACE organization's service area; be able, at enrollment, to live in the community without jeopardizing your health or safety.

You don't need Medicare or Medicaid to join. People can enroll with either, both or neither (42 CFR 460.150(d)).

In Florida, the Department of Elder Affairs' CARES program decides level of care. AHCA can only process the enrollment once Medicaid is active, with the right aid category and a county of residence inside the service area. A pending Medicaid application isn't enough. You also can't be enrolled in hospice, a Medicare dual special needs plan (D-SNP) or the APD iBudget waiver at the same time (AHCA PACE enrollment guide). If you have a D-SNP, which is common for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, it has to be dropped first.

Florida law requires each PACE organization to have a defined geographic service area (Fla. Stat. 430.84(3)). A service area may not cover every address in the county, so confirm yours with the organization before planning around it. Here's what AHCA's monthly report showed as of September 2026 (AHCA PACE report):

According to Medicare.gov:

With Medicaid, you pay no monthly premium for PACE. With Medicare but not Medicaid, you pay a monthly premium for the long-term care portion, plus a Part D premium. With neither, you pay the full premium yourself. Either way, there's no deductible or copay for care the team approves.

Getting the Medicaid side approved follows the same rules as nursing home Medicaid. DCF's asset limit for PACE is $2,000 for a single person. It's $5,000 if income is within the lower MEDS-AD limit. The spousal resource allowance applies to PACE, so a spouse at home may keep up to $162,660 in countable assets (ESS 1640.0205; DCF Appendix A-9). Income over $2,982 a month requires a qualified income trust, which DCF lists for PACE applicants (DCF QIT information sheet). See our Miller trust guide, our exempt assets guide and community spouse income.

Be careful with outside providers. Care you get outside PACE without the team's approval, other than emergencies, may be your responsibility (MorseLife).

Most Floridians who get Medicaid long-term care at home use the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care long-term care program (SMMC LTC). It's for people 65 or older, or 18 or older with a disability, whom CARES finds need nursing facility care (Fla. Stat. 409.979(1)). Home and community-based services under SMMC LTC are released from a statewide pre-enrollment list by priority score. Screening is done by the aging and disability resource center (Fla. Stat. 409.979(3)). In Palm Beach County, that's the Area Agency on Aging's Elder Helpline at 1-866-684-5885. Our assisted living and Medicaid guide explains the waitlist.

PACE doesn't use the SMMC LTC waitlist or the ADRC priority-score screening. Each PACE organization has its own state-funded slots, and you apply through the PACE organization (AHCA PACE report). It also starts at 55 rather than 65.

Call the PACE organization to confirm your address is in its service area and ask for an intake visit. Complete the CARES level-of-care assessment. The PACE organization usually helps arrange it. Apply to DCF for Medicaid long-term care through MyACCESS, or call DCF at 1-866-762-2237 (AHCA PACE enrollment guide). If you receive SSI, you still need a separate DCF application for long-term care. Drop any D-SNP through Medicare (1-800-633-4227), and end hospice or iBudget enrollment if needed. Sign the PACE election form and enrollment agreement.

Enrollment is effective no sooner than the first day of the month after the election form is signed. AHCA can sometimes process it for the current month during the first 10 days (AHCA PACE enrollment guide). Private-pay applicants skip the DCF step.