After two strokes and a diabetes diagnosis, Sandi Hunt needed help.
She needed physical therapy. She needed rides to her doctors’ appointments. And she needed a way out of her isolation.
Takeaways
- A ballooning population of older Americans has brought new interest to a 50-year-old model of care that helps seniors stay at home as they age.
- PACE KC started accepting patients just over a year ago, but enrollment on Aug. 1 was only 42.
- The model, which relies on payments from Medicaid, Medicare and often both, is being watched warily as the federal government cuts spending on Medicaid and other safety-net programs.
But as Hunt, 61, recovered in her hospital bed last year, she didn’t know where to turn.
The doctors said she should complete therapy within six months if she hoped to regain the mental and physical function she had lost. But one rehabilitation center wouldn’t admit her because her symptoms weren’t bad enough, and others had long waiting lists…