CMS Ruling on Nurse Coach Ability to Charge Medicare Patients

AHNCC

AHNA

TOPEKA, KS, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC) and the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Ruling to recognize health and well-being coaching as a reimbursable service under Medicare.

This press release is written on behalf of the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation. It regards the new CMS ruling to have and health and wellness coaches the ability to charge Medicare patients. This proposed rule would be under the Physician Fee Schedule and would be a nationally recognized reimbursement service under a provider’s supervision. It will be the first federal reimbursement program recognizing coaching as a clinically valued intervention. This reflects the growing emphasis on prevention, engaging patients and interdisciplinary care, as well as the management and prevention of chronic diseases.

You can review the proposed rule here (pages 194–197) AHNCC Nurse Coaching Board Certification is noted on page 196.

CMS proposes these services be delivered by trained and certified personnel with practitioner supervision. This broad group includes medical doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physical therapists, and psychologists who provide direct care to patients.

While this is a proposed rule, it is not final policy, it represents meaningful progress. The healthcare conversation has shifted from whether coaching has a role to how coaching can be responsibly integrated into Medicare to best serve beneficiaries.

Nurse Coaching is a skilled, purposeful, results-oriented, and structured relationship-centered, interaction-based role with clients based in the precepts of Holistic Nursing wherein clients are facilitated in achieving health-focused goals. Nurse Coaches are educated in advanced communication strategies, skills, and knowledge with the understanding that clients are the experts of their needs and care is always planned for and provided within the context of their culture, perceptions, values, and belief system.

AHNCC and AHNA applaud CMS for recognizing the value of certification, education and training as an intrinsic part of health coaching services.

The American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC) a 501c (6) organization, was created to advance holistic, person-centered care that emphasizes clients as the experts of their own experience, and nurses as instruments of healing, by assuming full administrative authority and sole responsibility over credentialing programs based in the values, knowledge, and skills of Holistic Nursing. AHNCC is a nationally recognized certification provider. The examinations are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification [ABSNC] and are recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center [ANCC] Magnet Program. AHNCC Certifications are the only nationally accredited certification programs in Holistic Nursing and Nurse Coaching. Accreditation renewed fall of 2024.

The American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) a 501c (3) organization, advances the profession of holistic nursing by providing continuing education in holistic nursing, helping to improve the health care workplace through the incorporation of the concepts of holistic nursing, educating professionals and the public about holistic nursing and integrative health care, and promoting research and scholarship in the field of holistic nursing. It supports nurses by promoting the mind-body-spirit connection, establishing practice standards, providing continuing education, building community networks, and advocating for wellness-focused healthcare of the American Holistic Nurses Association is to illuminate holism in nursing practice, community, advocacy, research, and education.

Contact Beth Barberree at director@ahna.org .

Margaret Erickson
AHNCC
+1 785-267-0943
outreach@ahncc.org
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