Denver-based InnovAge, the largest Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly provider, is advocating that the Michigan legislature pass a bill that would allow it to petition the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to offer its home care services in the metropolitan Detroit market, according to Crain’s Detroit.
If passed, the legislation would create direct competition for a PACE run by Presbyterian Villages of Michigan and the Henry Ford Health System, the media outlet said.
In 2018 during the Michigan Legislature’s lame-duck session, restrictions were put on health and human services companies looking to serve the in-home care needs of low-income dually eligible older adults. The proposed legislation would require InnovAge and other interested providers to prove that an unmet need exists in the market.
“We don’t think that a monopoly improves quality,” Beverley Dahan, vice president of government and legislative affairs at InnovAge, told the media outlet.
The state and federal governments pay PACE providers approximately $3,000 per month for Medicaid-eligible services that keep older adults out of more expensive settings such as nursing homes. In addition, Medicare pays PACE providers $2,000 to $2,500 per month for managed healthcare services for individuals in the PACE program instead of a fee-for-service, Dahan said.
