CMS Prepares to Launch ACCESS, a Medicare Pilot for Chronic Care Management

CMS is planning a formal launch event for ACCESS, a Medicare pilot program focused on chronic care management for beneficiaries with complex conditions. The pilot represents a continued federal push to restructure how ongoing chronic disease care is delivered and reimbursed outside of traditional episodic visit models.

Why it matters

CMS is moving toward a formal launch of ACCESS, its Medicare chronic care pilot, with a planned public launch event signaling that the program is nearing an operational phase. Chronic care management has long been an area where fee-for-service incentives fall short, rewarding visits over sustained coordination, and pilots like ACCESS are intended to test whether alternative payment structures can close that gap.

The details that matter most are still emerging: which patient populations are included, what care modalities count, and how success will be measured. A pilot that defines chronic care management broadly enough to accommodate existing workflows without requiring meaningful redesign will not generate the evidence the field needs. The launch event is worth watching, but the program design documents are what will tell you whether this is a real test or a repackaged status quo.

What to watch

Watch for how CMS defines eligible beneficiaries, what care coordination activities qualify for reimbursement, and whether the model includes any meaningful accountability for outcomes versus process metrics.