Support for chronic health conditions

Medicare offers ACCESS, a way to get care that supports people with Original Medicare who have one or more chronic health conditions. This care option is:

Provided by organizations that are approved by Medicare
Available at low or no cost to you
Designed to give you personalized chronic care support from the comfort of your home

These care organizations have specifically designed the support they offer to help you improve your health and add to the care you already get from your existing doctors and other providers.

Who can sign up?

Anyone with Original Medicare who has one or more of these conditions:

High blood pressure
High cholesterol ( dyslipidemia )
Obesity
Prediabetes
Diabetes
Chronic kidney disease
Heart disease ( atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease )
Depression
Anxiety
Ongoing muscle or joint pain

(More conditions may be added to this list.)

If you have more than one condition, you may be able to work with multiple care organizations.

What’s covered?

Care organizations can offer a variety of tools and ways to get support, like:

Virtual visits
Lifestyle coaching, including nutrition and exercise
Connected and/or wearable devices
Apps
Medication management
Behavioral health support
Support for more than one chronic condition (like anxiety and diabetes)

What will I pay?

Most organizations will charge between $0-$7/month
If a single organization is helping you with multiple conditions, they can’t charge you more than $13/month total

As part of your care, a vendor may give or loan you medical equipment related to your condition (like a blood pressure monitor or continuous glucose monitor). You may need to return the items later, but you won’t have to pay to use them.

Example: Lisa has Original Medicare and anxiety, so she can sign up with a care organization and use their app to help her manage her anxiety. She’ll pay that organization $3/month. Then, if she gets diabetes she can sign up with either the same organization or a different one, and pay them $7/month to support her in managing her diabetes.

How do I sign up?

Once you find an organization you’d like to get support from, you’ll contact them directly to sign up. You can sign up with a care organization yourself, without a referral.

List of available organizations coming soon.

You can also ask your pharmacist, doctor, or other health care provider to help you.

Using this care option doesn’t replace your existing health care providers. You’ll keep your primary care provider and specialists. Some organizations may be able to coordinate the support you get from them with your existing providers.

If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) you can’t use this care option, but your plan may offer something similar. Contact your plan to find out what’s available. What are some reasons I might not be able to use this care option?

What happens after I sign up?

The care organization will confirm your eligibility and get you started with the care and services they offer.
They’ll share your care plan with your primary care provider or specialists (when possible), to ensure your care is coordinated.
You’ll start getting care and support that’s personalized for the condition(s) you need help managing.

Care is available on an ongoing basis for most conditions, but you don’t have to keep using this care option. You can cancel or switch organizations after your first 90 days.

Signing up for this care option is part of your Medicare benefits. You don’t lose any coverage, and you can still go to any provider that accepts Medicare and get any other covered services you’re eligible for.