PACE Baton Rouge: An Alternative to a Nursing Home for East and West Baton Rouge

What is PACE?

The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly is a Medicare and Medicaid program in which one team provides and coordinates all of a participant's care: primary care, nursing, therapies, prescriptions, a day center, transportation, help at home, specialists, hospital care and, if it becomes necessary, nursing home care. LDH lists PACE providers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Alexandria.

In the capital region, PACE Baton Rouge operates from a center on Bishop Ott Drive. LDH also licenses it as an adult day health care center, which is the heart of the model: participants spend days at the center for meals, activities and clinic visits.

Who can enroll?

People 55 or older who meet nursing facility level of care, live in the service area and can live safely in the community at enrollment. The service area LDH lists is East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge parishes.

That leaves Ascension, Livingston, Iberville and the rural parishes outside PACE. Families there rely on the Community Choices Waiver, LT-PCS and the Adult Day Health Care Waiver instead.

What does PACE cost?

A participant who is eligible for Medicaid pays nothing for PACE services. A Medicare-only participant pays the part of the monthly rate that Medicare does not cover, and private payment is also allowed. Because PACE replaces the participant's usual doctors with its own team, ask how current specialists would fit in before enrolling.

Who does PACE work best for?

PACE often works well for a parent who lives with a working adult child: the day center covers the daytime, the van handles transportation, and the team manages medications and appointments. It works less well for a parent who wants to keep every current doctor or who needs supervision overnight that the family cannot provide.

How do we apply?

Call PACE Baton Rouge at 225-490-0604 or Louisiana Options in Long-Term Care at 1-877-456-1146. The program will check the address, the level of care and Medicaid status, and arrange a visit to the center. For other help, the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging is at (225) 923-8000 and the West Baton Rouge Council on Aging at (225) 383-0638.

What is a typical week like in PACE?

A participant might attend the center three or four days a week, riding the PACE van from home in the morning. At the center there are meals, activities, exercise, a clinic with a doctor and nurses, therapy, bathing help if needed, and medication management. On other days, a PACE aide may come to the house. When something changes, such as a fall or a new symptom, the family calls the PACE team rather than a series of separate doctors and agencies.

That single point of contact is what many families value most. It also means the PACE team decides which specialists and hospitals to use, which is the trade-off to weigh.

How does PACE compare with a nursing home or assisted living?

Every PACE participant meets nursing home level of care, so PACE is designed as an alternative to a nursing home for people who can still live in the community. Compared with assisted living, which Louisiana Medicaid does not pay for, PACE can be free for a Medicaid-eligible participant, but it does not provide housing or overnight supervision. If a participant later needs a nursing home, PACE arranges and pays for it as part of the program.

What questions should we ask PACE Baton Rouge?

Ask how many days a week your parent would attend the center and what happens on the other days, how the van schedule works for your address, which hospital and specialists the team uses, how after-hours calls are handled, and what help at home looks like for someone who needs assistance with bathing or dressing. Ask too how the team works with family caregivers and how often care plans are reviewed. If your parent currently sees a specialist at Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge General or Ochsner, ask whether that relationship can continue under the PACE team's direction.