With its second Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly center now open in South Los Angeles, SCAN Group is pressing ahead with a care model that faces steep regulatory challenges.
The new 33,000-square-foot facility in Compton will provide low or no-cost medical, social and in-home services for seniors eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The center builds on myPlace Health’s first PACE site, which opened near downtown Los Angeles in 2024. The two centers now serve 136 members, with enrollment expected to exceed 150 in the coming months.
myPlace was founded by SCAN in 2021 and was fully acquired this year following an initial partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance.
“Our mission at SCAN is to keep seniors healthy and independent,” Sachin Jain, MD, president and CEO of SCAN Group, told Becker’s. “At the top of the pyramid for models that actually do that is PACE. It is probably the purest instantiation of our mission because this is a group of people who otherwise would be in nursing homes. These are the people who might die prematurely because they don’t have the right access to services. That said, it’s still a small fraction of healthcare for older adults.”
Robbie Pottharst, CEO of myPlace, said the Compton expansion comes amid high demand for the model and to serve a region with longstanding gaps in healthcare access.
“As a PACE operator, that comes with immense responsibility, because we get all of our payments from Medicare and Medicaid,” he said. “The outcomes, the quality and the experience we produce has to be real. With OBBBA implementation coming, PACE has to step up every step of the way to make sure we’re delivering value for these populations and going where they need it the most.”
While policymakers have praised PACE for improving outcomes and reducing costs, including CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, enrollment nationwide remains around 80,000 people. Mr. Pottharst pointed to state contracting hurdles, capital requirements and regulatory complexities as barriers that persist nationwide.
Though the model dates back to the 1970’s, PACE was formally created through federal legislation in 1997. The program is operational in 33 states across 352 centers.
“If we could, we’d be launching 100 PACE sites around the country right now,” Dr. Jain said. “We’re looking for CMS to provide relief around day-one capital requirements. That would allow more organizations to pursue PACE that have otherwise shelved their proposals. That’s a good thing for beneficiaries, because in Medicare, no one size fits all.”
That federal momentum may be building, with Dr. Oz recently visiting a PACE center in San Francisco and calling the model “a different way of looking at how you can age in America,” per KTVU.
“Our unique model and the success thus far have created a halo of other mission-driven organizations that serve tons of PACE eligibles,” Mr. Pottharst said. “They love PACE as an extension of their mission but also see the complexities I mentioned. As we look to grow, our partnership-driven approach, creating a consortium of like-minded, mission-driven organizations that want to band together in PACE, is really exciting.”
