CMS releases new payment model to support lifestyle medicine

The Trump administration is seeking to support functional or lifestyle medicine approaches for Medicare beneficiaries under a new payment model released by CMS.

Announced on CMS' Innovation Center website late last week, the agency unveiled the Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence Model, otherwise known as MAHA ELEVATE. The model builds on the Trump administration's MAHA movement, which seeks to reduce the prevalence of chronic disease through holistic medicine.

Specifically, MAHA ELEVATE will fund up to 30 proposals to promote health and preventive care for Medicare beneficiaries through functional and lifestyle medicine interventions that bolster services already covered by Medicare. The Trump administration has earmarked approximately $100 million to fund the proposals through three-year cooperative agreements.

"These programs will support innovative care that works alongside conventional medicine to prevent disease and improve quality of life without any added cost to people," Abe Sutton, Director of the CMS Innovation Center and Deputy CMS Administrator, said in a video statement. "We're thinking outside the box because we believe a healthy society is one that makes it easier to stay healthy."

The funds will support data collection that measures the quality of care and costs associated with " whole-person functional or lifestyle medicine interventions" used in conjunction with conventional medicine, CMS explained on its website. The proposals must include nutrition or physical activity as part of their designs and incorporate services not covered by Traditional Medicare.

The cooperative agreements will be awarded to organizations with experience integrating and measuring these approaches to patient care, the agency added. Additionally, three of the cooperative agreements will specifically be awarded to organizations addressing dementia patients.

CMS plans to award the agreements in two rounds, with the first starting in 2026 and the second in 2027.

The National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) issued a statement welcoming the new payment model, which could provide a path for accountable care organizations (ACOs).

"Currently, many accountable care organizations use shared savings to provide patients interventions that are shown to help prevent or improve chronic conditions," stated Emily Bower, president and CEO of NAACOS. "These include physical activity and nutrition programs. We expect ACOs will be interested in pursuing this opportunity to build on their local efforts to help advance preventive and integrative care strategies that could shape future Medicare payment policies."

Many ACOs are seeking their next step as some Innovation Center models are set to expire, including the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health Model, or ACO REACH. The model is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2026, despite industry-wide calls for its continuation or a similar alternative.

CMS also recently released another new payment model through the Innovation Center aimed at supporting the use of technology for chronic disease management. The Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions, or ACCESS, Model will launch in July 2026.

Jacqueline LaPointe is a graduate of Brandeis University and King's College London. She has been writing about healthcare finance and revenue cycle management since 2016.