Expanding occupational therapy’s role in CMS’s ACCESS and MAHA ELEVATE models

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently introduced two new models of care that provide exciting opportunities for occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) to demonstrate our unique value in functional well-being, behavior change, and chronic disease management. These initiatives, run through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), reflect a potential shift toward whole person, prevention centered care. The Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) model and the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) ELEVATE (Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence) model both aim to improve health outcomes for individuals with chronic conditions while building new evidence to guide future Medicare reimbursement.