Columbia Senior AdvisorIs PACE available in Columbia, SC?
Yes. SCDHHS's PACE program data lists Prisma Health SeniorCare PACE-Midlands, the program long known as Palmetto SeniorCare, as serving Richland and Lexington counties, and the same page shows Calhoun County covered by The Orangeburg Senior Helping Center's PACE program.
SCDHHS lists no PACE organization for Kershaw, Fairfield or Saluda counties, so families there rely on Community Choices, OSS and Medicaid nursing home coverage instead. PACE service areas are set by county and sometimes by ZIP code, so confirm your parent's address with the program before planning around it. SCDHHS's enrollment snapshot shows 279 members for the Midlands program, though the page's date labels are inconsistent.
What does PACE cover?
PACE takes responsibility for all Medicare- and Medicaid-covered care, including primary care, specialists, prescriptions, hospital and nursing home care, therapy, home care, transportation and day center attendance, organized by its own interdisciplinary team.
The trade-off is the choice of doctors: participants see PACE's physicians and its contracted network. In exchange, one team answers for everything, which often keeps a frail person at home far longer than scattered services would. If nursing home care becomes necessary, PACE keeps paying for it.
Who qualifies for PACE in South Carolina?
PACE serves people 55 or older who live in the program's service area, meet South Carolina's nursing facility level of care, and can live safely in the community with PACE's support when they enroll.
Most participants have both Medicare and Medicaid and pay no premium. Someone with Medicare only can join by paying a monthly premium for the Medicaid share, which makes PACE costly for middle-income families. Enrollment is voluntary, and participants may leave.
How is PACE different from Community Choices?
Community Choices pays for services at home while the participant keeps their own doctors and Medicare coverage; PACE replaces the participant's Medicare and Medicaid arrangements with a single program that delivers and coordinates every service around a day center.
A parent devoted to a long-time Lexington physician may prefer Community Choices. A parent juggling many conditions, frequent ER trips and an exhausted family may be better served by PACE's single team. Both require nursing facility level of care.
How do we enroll in PACE in the Midlands?
Call the PACE program for your parent's county to schedule an intake; staff assess the applicant at home and at the center, SCDHHS confirms nursing facility level of care and Medicaid status, and coverage starts on the first of a month.
Ask about transportation from your parent's address, how many days a week participants attend, after-hours medical coverage and which hospitals and nursing homes the program uses. The Central Midlands Area Agency on Aging ((803) 376-5390) can explain how PACE compares with your other options.
Side by side
| PACE in the Midlands is | PACE in the Midlands is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Richland and Lexington (Midlands program); Calhoun (Orangeburg program) | Available in Kershaw, Fairfield or Saluda |
| Doctors | PACE's own team and network | Any doctor the participant chooses |
| Cost | No premium with Medicare and Medicaid | Free for Medicare-only participants |
| Setting | Built around a day center plus home care | A residence or nursing home |
Drawn from S.C. Code Regs. 60-84, DPH Healthcare Quality and SCDHHS publications, CareScout, CMS, the VA and the regional aging agencies cited in the text; our editorial standards explain how we check them.
