MS Announces New Model to Pilot Lifestyle Medicine Interventions 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center on Dec. 11 announced a new voluntary alternative payment model that will fund up to 30 pilot projects utilizing evidence-based functional or lifestyle medicine interventions not currently covered in traditional Medicare that address chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The Make America Health Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence (MAHA ELEVATE) Model will provide roughly $100 million to fund three-year cooperative agreements for up to 30 proposals to test whole-person interventions that may slow or prevent chronic disease for older populations. Eligible model funding recipients include health systems, accountable care organizations, and academic organizations that demonstrate experience delivering safe and effective lifestyle medicine interventions supported by peer-reviewed literature for a select chronic condition. The CMS intends to release a notice of funding opportunity in early 2026 for the first cohort set to launch Sept. 1, 2026.