LIFE is modeled after the national PACE program; Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) serve seniors with chronic care needs by providing access to the full continuum of preventive, primary, acute, and long term care services.
LIFE targets older adults who are eligible for nursing home level of care. Specifically, individuals must meet the following criteria to be eligible for LIFE:
- Aged 55 or older
- Have health problems that make it hard to live at home, but prefer to remain in their own home
- Live in specific geographic areas served by the program
- Need medical care and supportive services and are able to live in the community safely with the services provided through this program
- Determined to be clinically eligible for nursing home level of care
- Are eligible for Medicare and/or Medicaid or able to pay privately
LIFE is a not-for-profit Medicare health care plan and provider. LIFE is a service of the Penn Nursing Network (PNN), a division of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing. PNN is a multi-practice health care delivery network that provides community-based health care and consultation. LIFE is the only PACE program in the country to be owned and operated by a school of nursing. LIFE operates under a tri-partite mission of excellence in healthcare practice, education, and research.
LIFE and PACE are designed to provide health care in the home and community to older adults who otherwise would likely reside in nursing homes or other institutional settings.
