CMS Adds New Chronic Condition Options to ACCESS Model
In a Hospice News article, CAPC's Brynn Bowman and Allison Silvers respond to CMS's expansion of the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) model, which will add Medicare reimbursement options for patients with COPD, heart failure, nicotine dependence, and substance use disorders starting in spring 2027. They note that patients receiving palliative care were previously excluded from the model and that CMS has yet to update its documentation to reflect the new patient populations, adding that the expansion may have minimal impacts for palliative care programs. While supportive of including a sub-set of palliative care patients, Bowman and Silvers emphasize that "technology is at most a supplemental resource in the setting of palliative care, which requires meaningful clinician access and truly human interactions that clarify circumstances, options, and goals."