Blue Shield of California continued to demonstrate its leadership in advancing higher-value health care by becoming one of the first health plans to publicly commit to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) Model — an outcomes-based approach designed to modernize chronic care delivery through technology-enabled care and payment reform.
On Feb. 12, 2026, Blue Shield joined the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and 15 other national health plans in a public pledge to accelerate payment models that reward measurable improvements in patient health outcomes, rather than volume of services. This early commitment reflects Blue Shield’s long-standing belief that aligning incentives across Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act and commercial payers is essential to scaling high-quality, sustainable chronic care and transforming the healthcare system at large.
As a taxpaying, nonprofit health plan serving more than 6 million members in California and across the nation, Blue Shield of California is committed to modernizing the healthcare system, supporting preventive and chronic care management, and tying pay to better health outcomes. We are encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ efforts to align payers, providers and patients around what matters most: better health care at an affordable cost.
Blue Shield has a proven track record of partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on innovative payment models that prioritize outcomes and provider sustainability, including Primary Care First, an alternative payment model designed to improve primary care delivery while reducing administrative burden. The health plan also championed the multi-payer California Advanced Primary Care Initiative, reinforcing the belief that cross-payer alignment, not siloed programs, is critical to lasting impact.
ACCESS builds on this foundation by focusing on chronic conditions that affect more than two-thirds of people on Medicare and drive a significant share of healthcare costs. The model is organized into four clinical tracks:
- Early Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (eCKM): hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, prediabetes
- Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM): diabetes, chronic kidney disease, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
- Behavioral Health (BH): depression, anxiety
- Musculoskeletal (MSK): chronic musculoskeletal pain
Through ACCESS, Blue Shield is helping set the direction for how chronic care can be delivered and paid for in the future — supporting technology-enabled care that reduces administrative burden for providers, improves care coordination, and delivers real, measurable improvements in patient health outcomes. This commitment reflects Blue Shield’s continued leadership in advancing primary care, value-based payment and high-quality care at an affordable cost.
For more information on Blue Shield's Medicare offerings, visit Medicare insurance plans | Blue Shield of California.