CMS announced it will broaden the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) model in spring 2027 by adding four new clinical tracks. The change increases the number of chronic conditions covered under this outcomes-focused Medicare payment experiment from four to eight.
The announcement is part of CMS’s ongoing implementation of the 10-year voluntary ACCESS model, which launched on July 5. The expansion timing specified by the agency is spring 2027; the source did not provide specific launch dates beyond that timeframe.
CMS will introduce tracks for heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), substance use disorders, and tobacco cessation. These additions are intended to expand the scope of the ACCESS model to include additional high-burden, chronic conditions that may be managed with technology-enabled interventions and care coordination.
The source did not report operational details such as target populations per track, specific clinical outcome measures for each new track, or particular technologies or vendors designated for those tracks.
In addition to adding new tracks, CMS said it will extend the payment period for the existing track that addresses bone, joint and mobility conditions causing chronic pain. The report did not specify the length of the extension or further operational parameters for the extended payment period.
The ACCESS model is a voluntary, 10-year Medicare payment experiment that launched July 5. At launch, it included tracks for four chronic conditions: hypertension, diabetes, chronic musculoskeletal pain, and depression. Under the model, participating organizations receive recurring payments tied to the use of digital health and other health technologies to manage chronic conditions.
Critically, payments under ACCESS are outcomes-based: participants only receive full payment when Medicare enrollees achieve predefined health outcomes. Examples cited include improvements in blood pressure or lipid measures. The specific outcome targets for each track were not detailed in the source article beyond that general description.
CMS outlined payment amounts for the initial implementation period. For patients receiving care between July 5 and Dec. 31, 2027, participants will receive between $180 and $420 for the first year of patient care. The model also includes payments for a “follow-on period,” with amounts ranging between $90 and $210. These figures were published by CMS and cited in the report.
The source did not break down payments by condition, nor did it provide the criteria for how specific payment amounts map to performance levels or patient cohorts.
Before the announced expansion, more than 150 healthcare providers and digital health companies had joined the ACCESS model. Reported participants include technology and wearables companies such as Alphabet-owned Verily and Whoop. Despite enrollment, some digital health firms expressed concern that the model’s payment rates may be insufficient to sustain technology-supported chronic care.
Those concerns center on whether recurring, outcomes-contingent payments at the published levels will support the operational costs and investments required for continuous, tech-enabled care management. The source did not provide responses from CMS addressing those specific payment concerns.
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said during a press conference that he hopes the ACCESS model will spur change beyond traditional Medicare. He described the model as paying for outcomes rather than processes or surrogate measures and suggested it could open the door for adoption by Medicare Advantage, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicaid, and TRICARE.
The ACCESS expansion aligns with broader federal interest in reducing chronic disease burden and testing payment models that reward measured health improvements. The source connected the model’s emphasis on outcomes to HHS leadership goals but did not provide additional evidence of uptake among other federal or commercial payers.
The Healthcare Dive article and the referenced CMS announcement did not report some operational specifics: exact start dates within spring 2027, the detailed outcome measures for the four new tracks, condition-specific payment allocations, how performance will be measured and audited, or how CMS will address concerns about payment sufficiency voiced by digital health firms. Those details were not included in the source.