What happened
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center opened the first performance period of its ACCESS model, short for Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions, on July 5, 2026. It is a voluntary, ten-year national model for the US Medicare fee-for-service program, running through 2037, built to test whether paying for outcomes rather than billable visits changes how chronic disease gets managed (CMS.gov, 2026).
CMS accepted more than 150 organizations for the launch cohort. Most had not previously served Medicare beneficiaries, a mix of technology-enabled care companies, virtual care startups and a smaller number of health systems and community health centers. Named accepted applicants reported in coverage include Headspace, Weight Watchers, Noom, Verily Health, Withings Medical Group, Concert Health, Slingshot AI, HealthTap and Story Health Partners, alongside health systems including MLK Community Healthcare in Los Angeles, MUSC Health in Charleston and One Brooklyn Health in New York (TechTarget, 2026; Fierce Healthcare, 2026).
Who is affected
The model runs four clinical tracks, each tied to a chronic condition category CMS says affects a majority of Medicare beneficiaries: an early cardio-kidney-metabolic track covering hypertension and prediabetes, a cardio-kidney-metabolic track covering diabetes and chronic kidney disease, a musculoskeletal track for chronic pain, and a behavioral health track for depression and anxiety (CMS.gov, 2026). This is reported here as a description of the model's structure, not a clinical recommendation. It applies specifically to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in the United States; it does not extend to Medicare Advantage or to other countries' health systems.
What participating organizations should know
CMS pays under a structure it calls Outcome-Aligned Payments: a fixed annual amount per enrolled beneficiary, with as much as half of that amount withheld until the organization demonstrates results. CMS disburses the guaranteed portion in monthly installments of one-twelfth of the annual amount, capped at 50 percent of the total across the year, and reconciles the withheld remainder after each twelve-month care period through separate adjustment mechanisms (Foley Hoag, 2026). That is a meaningful shift from standard Medicare fee-for-service billing, where providers are paid per encounter regardless of outcome.
CMS had originally set an April 1, 2026 application deadline for the launch cohort, then extended it to May 15, 2026 to let more organizations apply before the July 5 start (American Hospital Association, 2026). Medicare enrollment is required to participate but not required simply to apply.
What happens next
The application window for the second cohort, which starts January 1, 2027, closes October 1, 2026. CMS has said it expects to keep accepting applications on a rolling, quarterly basis for future cohorts after that (CMS.gov, 2026). Organizations and health tech vendors weighing whether to apply for the next round will be watching how CMS scores the first cohort's outcomes once the initial 12-month reconciliation period closes.
Sources
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model" - https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/access
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "ACCESS Model Accepted Applicants" - https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/access-model-accepted-applicants
- TechTarget, "CMS taps Verily, Noom, 150+ others to participate in ACCESS model" - https://www.techtarget.com/virtualhealthcare/news/366641624/CMS-taps-Verily-Noom-150-others-to-participate-in-ACCESS-model
- Fierce Healthcare, "CMS taps 150 digital health companies, providers for ACCESS Model" - https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/cms-taps-150-digital-health-companies-providers-access-model
- American Hospital Association, "CMS accepts more than 150 organizations for participation in ACCESS Model, extends application deadline" - https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2026-04-14-cms-accepts-more-150-organizations-participation-access-model-extends-application-deadline
- Foley Hoag LLP, "CMS ACCESS Model: Payments Announced Ahead of April 1 Application Deadline" - https://foleyhoag.com/news-and-insights/publications/alerts-and-updates/2026/march/cms-access-model-payments-announced-ahead-of-april-1-application-deadline/