CMS Launches $100 Million MAHA ELEVATE Program for Whole-Person Health Care

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has opened applications for the MAHA ELEVATE model — Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence — with approximately $100 million in cooperative agreements available for up to 30 organizations. Each award is approximately $3.3 million over a three-year period. Mandatory letters of intent are due April 10, 2026, with full applications due May 15.

The program represents a significant bet by the CMS Innovation Center on upstream, preventive interventions for Original Medicare beneficiaries, targeting chronic disease through lifestyle-based approaches rather than acute treatment alone.

What MAHA ELEVATE Funds

All proposals must include nutrition or physical activity interventions as core components. Beyond those requirements, the model covers a broad range of whole-person care strategies: sleep improvement programs, stress management, harmful substance avoidance, and initiatives to strengthen social connection among Medicare beneficiaries.

The model combines psychological, nutritional, and physical interventions with self-care strategies. CMS is explicitly looking for evidence-based approaches that can demonstrate measurable health outcomes — not exploratory pilots without evaluation rigor.

Broad Eligibility Opens the Field

The program's eligible applicant pool is notably wide. Federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, private medical practices, accountable care organizations, academic institutions, community-based organizations, and Indian Health Service and tribal programs can all apply. State and local governments are also eligible.

Cooperative agreements will be awarded in two cohorts — the first starting in 2026, the second in 2027 — giving organizations that miss the first round a second entry point.

Positioning a Strong Application

Applicants with existing chronic disease management or Medicare population health programs will have a head start. CMS is looking for organizations that can pair clinical capacity with community-level intervention — think an FQHC partnering with a local YMCA or food bank to deliver nutrition programming alongside primary care.

The April 10 letter of intent deadline is mandatory; organizations that skip it cannot submit full applications. Begin by reviewing the full Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov and identifying potential community partners.

For a full guide to CMS innovation model applications and competitive strategies, visit the Granted blog.