The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will distribute $10 billion among all 50 states during the second year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. This funding is intended to build on early progress and deliver lasting improvements in access, quality and health outcomes for rural Americans.
“President Trump made a historic investment in rural America, and HHS is putting those resources to work in every state,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in announcing the funding on Monday. “This next $10 billion will expand access to care, strengthen the rural health workforce, improve prevention and help states build solutions that fit the needs of their own communities. We are giving rural America the resources and flexibility to build stronger health systems that deliver better care and better outcomes.”
Rural residents face higher risks of death from the five leading causes — heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke and unintentional injuries — compared with urban residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity and smoking are more common in rural communities. Drug overdose deaths are rising faster in rural areas, and suicide rates have been consistently higher in rural counties for two decades. Environmental hazards, including agricultural chemicals and occupational risks, also are more prevalent.
“Rural Americans have life expectancies three years shorter than their urban peers, but President Trump’s Rural Health Transformation Program is funding the historic investments necessary to close that gap,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said. “States have already put these resources to work bringing better care closer to home for their rural communities, and CMS looks forward to helping them build on that progress in the coming year.”
State initiatives may include efforts to improve prevention and chronic disease management, create sustainable access to care, strengthen the rural health workforce, advance innovative care and payment models, and put modern technology and data to work for rural patients and providers.
All 50 states submitted annual reports documenting their progress, which CMS reviewed as part of determining each state’s award. State awards were determined based on a variety of factors, including state progress on implementation of state policies to improve rural health.
CMS will use information from state reports to monitor implementation, provide technical assistance, assess compliance and inform annual funding determinations. Over time, this data will help CMS assess progress toward the access, workforce, health, technology and sustainability goals states committed to pursue through their transformation plans.
The rural health program is a five-year, $50 billion investment to address longstanding challenges facing rural communities. A total of $20 billion has now been awarded, with, an additional $30 billion to be distributed in coming years.