How to Apply for PACE and PACENET in Pennsylvania: Where to Send It, the Prior-Year Rule, and Why Two Sites Show Different Limits
Because both are describing something real. The Commonwealth's own service page currently lists the PACENET ceiling as $33,500 for one person and $41,500 for a couple. A 2025 law — Senate Bill 731, signed 2 June 2025 — raises those figures to $45,000 and $55,000, with an effective date of 1 July 2026. As of this writing the state's public page still shows the older pair. We are not going to guess which one is being applied to applications this week. Call 1-800-225-7223 and ask what limit applies to your application today. One phone call settles it, and no website can.
One application covers both programmes. You do not choose between PACE and PACENET — you apply once, and the state puts you in whichever tier your income fits.
Call before you file, and what to ask
This is not the usual advice to "contact your agency." In this specific case the published numbers are mid-change, and the answer decides whether it is worth filling in the form at all.
"I want to apply for PACE or PACENET. What income limit are you applying right now, and which calendar year's income do you need from me?"
Have your income and insurance details to hand when you call — the state says the phone application can be completed in that one call. If you are over the older ceiling but under the newer one, that is precisely the conversation worth having.
Three ways to apply
| Route | Details |
|---|---|
| Phone | 1-800-225-7223. Have income and insurance information ready. Fastest, and you can ask questions as you go. |
| Online | Through the PACE enrolment site linked from the Commonwealth's service page. |
| Paper | Mail to PACE/PACENET, PO Box 8806, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8806. Fax 1-888-656-0372. Email papace@primetherapeutics.com. A Spanish-language application is published as well. |
→ swipe the table sideways
Source: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Apply for the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) Program.
There is no enrolment season. You can apply in any month.
The four rules that actually decide it
Eligibility is determined by your previous calendar year's gross income. That cuts both ways. Someone who retired in March and now has very little income may still be judged on a full year of wages. Someone whose income rose this year is judged on the quieter year before it. If your circumstances changed sharply, say so on the call — do not assume the figure on your last tax return is the end of the discussion.
You must have been a Pennsylvania resident for at least 90 consecutive days before the date you apply. If you have just moved to be near family, note the date you arrived and apply once you clear the three months.
No exceptions for younger people with disabilities. This is an age-based programme, unlike most of what is on this site.
If you already receive prescription coverage through the Department of Human Services' Medicaid benefit, you cannot also hold PACE. That is not a loss — the Medicaid benefit is generally the stronger of the two — but it means the application is not for you.
Note what is not on that list: an asset test. PACE and PACENET look at income, not at what you have saved. People with a paid-off house rule themselves out of this one for no reason.
The federal Extra Help subsidy is separate, has its own limits, and can bring copays lower still. Holding a Medicare Savings Program brings Extra Help automatically.
Extra Help limits, and what it pays →The protection almost nobody mentions
Ordinarily a Social Security cost-of-living rise can push someone just over an income ceiling and out of a programme they have relied on for years. Pennsylvania has built a defence against exactly that.
Under state law, people who were enrolled in PACE or PACENET remain eligible even if their income exceeds the limit solely because of a Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. The legislature has renewed this protection repeatedly, and the most recent renewal covers those enrolled as of 31 December 2024.
Two consequences. If you are already a cardholder and a COLA has taken you over the line, do not assume you have lost the benefit — ask. And if you were dropped in a previous year for that reason, it is worth one call to find out whether a later renewal brought you back in.
Seven things that go wrong
The published limits are mid-change. One call to 1-800-225-7223 tells you what is being applied to applications today; no article can.
Eligibility runs on the previous calendar year. Someone who retired in the spring is often judged on a year of full-time wages, and gives up before finding that out.
There is no asset test here. Only income counts.
Ninety consecutive days of Pennsylvania residence before the application date. Note the date you moved.
State law protects existing cardholders whose income rose only because of a Social Security increase. Ask before you accept it.
The programme works through pharmacies located in Pennsylvania. If you spend winters elsewhere, plan around that before you travel.
PACE and PACENET are designed to work alongside Medicare Part D, retiree coverage, union plans and VA benefits — not to replace them. Cancelling the other coverage usually costs you money and can create a late-enrolment penalty later.
| Agency | Pennsylvania Department of Aging |
| Apply or ask by phone | 1-800-225-7223 |
| PACE/PACENET, PO Box 8806, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8806 | |
| Fax | 1-888-656-0372 |
| papace@primetherapeutics.com | |
| Programme page | pa.gov — PACE and PACENET |
| Free Medicare counseling (APPRISE) | shiphelp.org |
Related programs
The federal oneExtra Help for prescription costs→ If you file for Extra Help tooHow to fill out Form SSA-1020→ Pays your Part B premiumMedicare Savings Programs: all 50 states→ The order to apply inSenior benefits: the national guide→Tools you'll need
medicare.gov/plan-compare — which drug plan costs least
shiphelp.org — free Medicare counseling
findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov — clinics that charge by income
eldercare.acl.gov — 1-800-677-1116
211.org — local help finder
Sources. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Apply for the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) Program — eligibility rules, income limits as currently published, and the three application routes. Pennsylvania General Assembly, fiscal note to Senate Bill 731 of 2025 — the PACENET income increase to $45,000 single and $55,000 married, and the cost-of-living adjustment protection for those enrolled as of 31 December 2024.
Verified: August 1, 2026. The published limits are in transition; confirm by phone before relying on any figure.
This page explains a public program. It is not legal or financial advice and it is not an eligibility decision. Only the Pennsylvania Department of Aging can determine whether you qualify.
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