Rural PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) Provider Grant Program

The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services funds the Rural PACE Provider Grant Program (CFDA 93.760) to support all-inclusive care for the elderly in rural geographic service areas, with the most recent grant award issued on July 1, 2008 — 18 years ago.

This program is not currently active. No grant opportunities have been posted in recent years, and no awards have been disbursed since 2008. The portfolio contains 21 total awards spanning 2006 through 2008, with activity concentrated in 2006 (15 awards) and minimal continued funding thereafter (1 award in 2007, 5 in 2008). The program appears dormant.

When active, the program funded the development and operation of integrated care delivery models serving elderly populations in rural counties and non-metropolitan areas. Representative awards included rural PACE initiatives in South Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Montana, Hawaii, and Appalachia. Specific projects named in award documentation include the Billings Clinic Integrated Urban-Rural PACE Initiative, Siouxland PACE, Piedmont PACE, and the Mountain Empire Older Citizens PACE Program. Funding supported both program development and ongoing service delivery in areas designated as rural or non-MSA.

The assistance-type mix was predominantly Block Grants (16 awards, 76 percent) with a smaller share of Project Grants (5 awards, 24 percent). The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was the sole funding agency, accounting for all 21 awards and the entire $174 thousand in combined federal dollars obligated. Individual awards ranged from approximately $35 thousand to $546 thousand, with several large awards recorded as negative obligations (debt or recovery actions), suggesting program closeouts or fund reclamations in the later years of the portfolio.

Given the 18-year gap since the final award, the absence of any recent solicitations, and the apparent conclusion of the original funding cohort, this program warrants a skip decision unless there is evidence of reactivation or pending new solicitation.