Is Your Parent's ZIP Code Covered by PACE Greater New Orleans?

What PACE does differently

Most older adults juggle separate doctors, a pharmacy, a home health agency, maybe an adult day center and a Medicaid program, each with its own phone number. PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, replaces that patchwork with one team. Doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers and aides assess each participant, build the plan with them, and provide or arrange all Medicare and Medicaid services plus whatever else the team decides is needed to keep the person living at home.

In the New Orleans area the provider is PACE Greater New Orleans, run by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans from 4201 N. Rampart St., New Orleans, LA 70117.

Who qualifies

LDH lists four requirements: 55 or older, meets nursing facility level of care, lives in a ZIP code the provider serves, and can live safely in the community at enrollment. PACE is not limited to people with Medicaid. A participant who is eligible for Medicaid pays nothing for PACE services; a Medicare-only participant pays the part of the monthly rate Medicare does not cover; private pay is also allowed.

The ZIP code list

LDH lists these ZIP codes for PACE Greater New Orleans: 70001, 70002, 70003, 70005, 70006, 70032, 70037, 70043, 70053, 70056, 70058, 70062, 70065, 70067, 70072, 70075, 70092, 70094, 70112, 70113, 70114, 70115, 70116, 70117, 70118, 70119, 70121, 70122, 70123, 70124, 70125, 70126, 70127, 70128, 70129, 70130, 70131.

Applied to the addresses of licensed senior care providers on LDH's roster, the list looks like this by parish:

The table counts ZIP codes where at least one licensed provider has an address, as a practical stand-in for where older adults live; check your parent's own ZIP code against the list above.

How PACE compares with the Community Choices Waiver

Both serve people who meet nursing home level of care and want to stay home. The Community Choices Waiver adds services alongside a person's existing doctors and coverage, and its slots are offered by priority group and then by registry date. PACE replaces the usual arrangements with its own network and team. Families attached to a long-time doctor outside the network sometimes prefer the waiver; families juggling many appointments and providers often find PACE simpler.

Questions to ask PACE

Ask how often the participant attends the day center, the pickup window for your parent's address, who answers the phone at night, how hospital stays are handled, and what the team does before and during a hurricane. Ask whether your parent could keep any current specialists, and how prescriptions are filled. Then compare those answers with what your parent has now.

What a typical PACE week looks like

Most participants attend a PACE center on set days, with transportation from home. At the center they see the team's clinicians, receive therapy, eat a meal and take part in activities. On other days, PACE aides may come to the home to help with bathing or meals. The team manages prescriptions, specialists and hospital stays, and participants call one number for everything. That structure is the main reason families choose PACE: one team knows the whole picture.

If your parent's ZIP code is not on the list

Outside the listed ZIP codes, the main Medicaid routes for care at home are LT-PCS, for hands-on personal care, and the Community Choices Waiver, for a broader package, along with the ADHC Waiver for adult day health care. On the Northshore, the St. Tammany Council on Aging, at (985) 892-0377, can explain local services. In St. Charles Parish, the St. Charles Council on Aging is at (985) 783-6685.

Leaving PACE

Participants can leave PACE and return to regular Medicare and Medicaid. If your parent enrolls and it does not suit, ask how disenrollment works and how quickly the old arrangements resume, so there is no gap in coverage.

PACE and hurricanes

Because PACE coordinates a participant's whole care, its emergency planning reaches further than a single service. Ask how the team prepares participants before a storm, whether it helps arrange evacuation for those who need it, how prescriptions are refilled early, and how it stays in touch with participants who evacuate out of the area.