03/17/2022

House Bill 600 introduced, seeks to expand PACE to six new Ohio sites

This week, Representative Bill Roemer introduced House Bill 600, which seeks to amend sections 173.50 and 173.501 of the Revised Code to expand Ohio's Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and makes a $50M appropriation from the state’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) funds set aside for home- and community-based services to support start-up costs for the expansion. Representative Roemer was joined by the following cosponsors: Rep. Jim Hoops, Rep. Scott Lipps, Rep. Susan Manchester, Rep. Bill Seitz, and Rep. Dick Stein. 

House Bill 600 is the latest legislative effort to expand PACE in Ohio, which lags behind neighboring states in utilizing this cost-effective service which boasts high patient satisfaction and health outcomes. PACE expansion has been a priority for LeadingAge Ohio for over a decade, and a LeadingAge Ohio member-led proposal to expand PACE was included in the “As Passed by Senate” version of the budget bill (HB 110). It was eventually removed for further consideration, and in October of 2021, the DeWine Administration included a three site $50M expansion of PACE in its proposed spending plan for ARPA HCBS dollars. This legislation builds upon that proposal, increasing the total number of sites to six while maintaining the original appropriation. 

HB 600 could move on its own or be wrapped into a future ARPA spending bill, expected later this spring. Any questions related to the PACE bill may be sent to Patrick Schwartz at pschwartz@leadingageohio.org.