Lakeland Senior AdvisorHow does an SMMC long-term care plan differ from PACE?
An SMMC long-term care plan pays for services such as home care, adult day care and assisted living services while medical care stays with Medicare and your own doctors; PACE replaces both with a single team built around a day center, with the PACE physician as primary care doctor.
Both require nursing facility level of care. PACE adds an age floor of 55 and residence in an approved service area.
Which one can a Polk County resident actually join today?
Only an SMMC long-term care plan: AHCA's August 2026 PACE report shows no PACE organization operating in Polk County, with Kinship PACE of Central Florida awaiting federal approval and Chapters Health PACE Central Florida's application pended for lack of slots.
Long-term care plan enrollment for home and community-based services typically starts with a screening by Senior Connection Center (1-800-336-2226) and a place on the wait list ranked by need.
Could PACE pay for care in an assisted living facility once it opens?
Yes, PACE can pay for care services for a participant living in an ALF, and Florida's DCF standards already list a personal needs allowance for ALF residents in PACE (room and board plus 20 percent of the poverty level).
When a Polk County PACE program opens, ask which local ALFs its team already works with.
Could a Polk County resident switch from a long-term care plan to PACE later?
Yes, once PACE operates in the county: a person in an SMMC long-term care plan who lives in a PACE service area may leave the plan and join PACE, effective the first of a month after PACE's assessment and signed enrollment agreement.
Florida Medicaid choice counselors at 1-877-711-3662 can explain the timing.
Which model fits someone with many medical appointments?
Usually PACE, because its team provides primary care, coordinates specialists and drives participants to the center and to appointments, while an SMMC long-term care plan leaves medical care to Medicare and the person's own doctors.
People strongly attached to a longtime doctor often prefer a long-term care plan for that reason.
Who decides whether someone meets nursing facility level of care?
In Florida, the Department of Elder Affairs' CARES program (Comprehensive Assessment and Review for Long-Term Care Services) assesses medical eligibility for Medicaid long-term care and for PACE.
Senior Connection Center or the PACE organization arranges the assessment.
Side by side
| PACE | SMMC LTC plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctors | The PACE physician becomes primary care | Keep your Medicare doctors |
| Day center | At the heart of the model | Adult day care is optional |
| Polk County status | Applications pending (August 2026) | Available, with screening and a wait list |
Built from Chapters 408, 429 and 651, Florida Statutes; Florida Administrative Code chapters 59A-36 and 65A-2; AHCA, DCF, OIR and Department of Elder Affairs publications; and the CareScout and VA rate tables cited on this page. Our editorial standards explain how each figure is checked.
