ALBANY, N.Y. — [July 31, 2026] — The New York State PACE Alliance has appointed Luke Tobeler to a newly established full-time executive director position, marking a new phase of collaboration and advocacy among New York’s ten Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.
As executive director, Tobeler will lead the PACE Alliance’s comprehensive reform and expansion agenda focused on three interconnected priorities: promoting collaboration among PACE operators to expand program access; facilitating PACE program’s collective partnership with the New York State Department of Health to implement the PACE Act; and, ensuring PACE is recognized as a distinct, proven model of care within New York’s Medicaid long-term care delivery system.
PACE is the only federally authorized program intended as an alternative to nursing home care for individuals over age 55. It is currently authorized by 33 states and the District of Columbia as a Medicaid State Plan service option. Fourteen PACE states have coterminous State PACE Associations that are similar to New York’s PACE Alliance and recognized by the National PACE Association.
Due in large part to its complexity, PACE remains a comparatively small program with just over 10,000 participants in New York and 95,000 nationally. PACE’s Federal authorizing statute prescribes a unique model of care that requires approved PACE organizations to take on financial risk and accountability while integrating Medicare, Medicaid, and/or private funding streams to provide a comprehensive umbrella of services, including homecare, primary care, specialty care, prescription drugs, behavioral health, nutrition support, transportation and even social supports not covered by traditional Medicaid and Medicare.
Since Congressional passage of the PACE statute in 1997, the program has developed a well documented record of success in helping individuals who are eligible for nursing home admission to remain in their homes and communities for as long as possible. The Federal Department of Health and Human Services, among others, has found the program to be a “consistently high performing” model of care, with PACE participants experiencing 1/3rd of the mortality rate of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, all while PACE delivers a comprehensive set of services that is more cost-effective to taxpayers and preferred by individuals as an alternative to nursing home placement.
“PACE is a provider-sponsored, fully integrated model and not simply another form of managed long-term care,” said Scott LaRue, Chair of the New York State PACE Alliance and Chief Executive Officer of ArchCare. “Recognizing that distinction is essential to creating an environment in which PACE programs can operate efficiently, expand responsibly and serve substantially more New Yorkers.”
At the top of the PACE Alliance’s regulatory agenda will be implementing Article 29-EE of the New York Public Health Law, enacted through the PACE Act that was signed into law by Governor Hochul in December 2022. The Alliance will support the Department of Health’s efforts to streamline state licensure requirements and establish a coordinated regulatory framework for approving new PACE programs and expanding existing service areas.
“Implementing Article 29-EE is important because at times PACE has been erroneously grouped with Managed Long-Term Care, or MLTC, in New York’s policy and administrative decision making, a program that is separately authorized under the State’s 1115 waiver” Tobeler says. “This leads to several content duplicative, yet process independent state-level compliance reports to PACE’s existing federal obligations. As a result, PACE organizations must divert resources from their primary responsibility of assuring high-quality care for individuals with complex chronic conditions.”
Tobeler’s role will also go beyond coordinating statewide government relations on behalf of PACE programs. He will serve as a facilitator among PACE program executives and their finance, enrollment, operations and compliance staff, drawing upon the collective institutional knowledge that exists across New York’s PACE program’s to represent New York PACE in partnership with the National PACE Association’s efforts to modernize Federal PACE policy and practice.
“New York’s PACE programs possess tremendous clinical, financial, regulatory and operational expertise,” LaRue said. “Establishing a full-time executive director gives the Alliance the capacity to connect that expertise across organizations and disciplines, translate it into practical improvements and speak with a unified voice. Luke understands both the policy environment and the day-to-day realities facing PACE organizations, and he has earned the confidence of our membership.”
Expanding access will be an equally important component of the Alliance’s work. New York has committed to expanding access in PACE, both in recommendation six of the State’s March 2022 Dual Care Integration Roadmap and in proposal fifty-nine of the State’s June 2025 Master Plan on Aging Final Report. The Alliance will seek to capitalize on support for PACE by pursuing policies that make it easier for eligible New Yorkers to learn about and enroll in PACE.
“As New Yorkers’ needs for long-term care continues to grow, the State should be expanding access to models that help people remain safely in their homes and communities,” LaRue said. “PACE is a provider-sponsored, federally authorized and consistently high-performing alternative to nursing home placement. The Alliance’s objective is to create the policy, regulatory and operating conditions necessary for this model to reach many more New Yorkers.”
Tobeler has worked in a part-time capacity with the New York State PACE Alliance as a consultant at Sachs Policy Group for the last seven years and has helped shaped its policy strategy, advocacy and efforts to distinguish and expand PACE within New York’s Medicaid long-term care system. Tobeler has represented PACE priorities before the Public Health and Health Planning Council, contributed to statewide policy discussions concerning Medicare-Medicaid integration, and was co-chair of the PACE workgroup supporting the New York State Master Plan for Aging.
Since joining Sachs Policy Group in 2019, he has also advised managed care organizations, long-term care providers, provider coalitions and technology-enabled companies serving older adults, people with disabilities and government-sponsored health care populations. His previous experience includes value-based program development at RiverSpring Health Plans, provider payment transformation work with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and a post-graduate fellowship with the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition through the Greater New York Hospital Association. Tobeler holds a master’s degree in health policy and management from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Michigan.
“This transition is a commitment to making the PACE Alliance a practical extension of each member program’s leadership and operations,” Tobeler said. “Because PACE programs are fully accountable for the continuum of services that nursing home eligible seniors and their families need, they are an outstanding partner in assisting with healthcare challenges that arise as we grow older. I’m eager to spread the knowledge that exists within New York’s PACE programs and incorporate lessons from other PACE states so that together New York State and PACE providers can become more efficient in responding to New York’s growing demand for long-term care and support.”
About the New York State PACE Alliance
The New York State PACE Alliance represents ten organizations operating Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly across New York and prospective PACE applicants. The Alliance promotes policies and operating practices that expand access to PACE, strengthen integrated Medicare and Medicaid service delivery, support high-quality community-based care and help nursing-home-eligible individuals remain in their homes and communities.
About ArchCare
ArchCare is the Continuing Care Community of the Archdiocese of New York, and one of the nation’s largest and most dynamic Catholic healthcare systems. ArchCare provides quality care to thousands of people of all faiths through its home and community-based and residential care programs, including their Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) nursing home alternative, adult day care, long-term skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation, home care, assisted living, hospice, an acute care specialty hospital and services for people with Huntington’s disease, HIV/AIDS, developmental disabilities, and other specialized care needs.
Media Contacts:
Luke Tobeler
Executive Director
New York State PACE Alliance
luke@paceallies.org