2025 -- H 6172

========

LC002610

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

____________

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF PACE-RI

     Introduced By: Representatives Dawson, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Chippendale,
Kennedy, Ajello, Tanzi, Boylan, McNamara, and Shallcross Smith

     Date Introduced: April 03, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, PACE-RI is a nonprofit healthcare plan for frail seniors that was founded in

2005, with the express purpose of assisting low-income seniors who desire to continue to live in

their homes instead of a nursing home. Originally founded in Providence, PACE-RI currently has

centers in East Providence, Newport, Westerly and Woonsocket; and

     WHEREAS, PACE-RI serves as both a health insurer and healthcare provider, addressing

seniors’ health needs through a holistic approach, including primary and acute services,

pharmacy, behavioral health, rehabilitation services, home care, transportation, adult day services,

meals, and all other healthcare needs; and

     WHEREAS, Thanks to the services provided by PACE-RI, 450 medically complex

participants were able to stay in their homes instead of going to nursing homes, for an average of

four additional years compared to those without PACE-RI. PACE-RI provides significant savings

for Rhode Island taxpayers and delivers the high-quality care and support most people desire in

their final years; and

     WHEREAS, The average participant is 75 years old with six medical conditions and

eleven medications. Approximately eighty-nine percent of PACE-RI enrollees have a behavioral

health diagnosis and thirty-five percent have dementia. Almost all enrollees need help with

multiple activities of daily living activities such as daily bathing, grooming, feeding and dressing,

and are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare; and

     WHEREAS, PACE-RI has served more than 2,000 people in its distinguished twenty

years of service. PACE-RI participants experience eleven percent fewer emergency room visits

per 100 participants compared to their peers not in the PACE-RI program, and forty-three percent

of PACE-RI participants who have been enrolled for at least a year have not required inpatient

hospitalization. Thanks to PACE-RI, eighty-six percent of participants say they feel that PACE-

RI’s services help improve or maintain their independence and quality of life; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

joyously celebrates the 20th Anniversary of PACE-RI, and thanks them for the high-quality

healthcare services they provide on a daily basis to the frail elderly enrollees under their care; and

be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Thomas Boucher, Chief of External

Affairs, PACE-RI.

========

LC002610

========

LC002610 - Page 2 of 2