Three state agencies are gathering input from people living and serving in rural areas for a state plan for a new $50 billion rural health fund established in President Donald Trump’s megabill.
The Rural Health Transformation Program was signed into law alongside an estimated $911 billion in reductions to federal Medicaid spending over a decade. According to KFF, rural areas will see $137 billion of those cuts, meaning this program could offset a little over a third of them.
The fund was added to Trump’s megabill to address concerns about its potential impacts on rural hospitals and providers. The goal is to help “stabilize and strengthen” them.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is administering the $50 billion in state grants, distributing $10 billion annually from FY 2026 to FY 2030.
The funding is split in half, with $25 billion set aside to be distributed equally among all states with approved applications.
“[This] appears to suggest that each state with an approved application would receive the same amount from this pool regardless of the size of its rural population, the number of rural hospitals or other providers in the state, the financial standing of its rural hospitals, or other factors,” a KFF analysis on the program stated.
The other $25 billion is to be distributed based on a formula developed by the CMS administrator.
States can apply to use the funds for various purposes, including the promotion of care interventions, providing payments to health care providers, recruiting and retaining workforce and supporting access to substance use disorder treatment services.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health, Health Care Authority and Department of Human Services are seeking input through a request for information, targeting the voices of rural communities to help inform its state plan, which must describe how it would use funds from the program.
“Your voice is essential to create a sustainable plan that transforms rural health in Oklahoma,” the State Department of Health wrote in a Facebook post.
The survey asks what sectors respondents identify with most, what areas the state should prioritize and provides an opportunity to send in ideas to improve rural health care in the state.
Oklahoma is joining nineteen states that have taken action, as of Aug. 28, to create a transformation plan and prepare to apply for the program. Efforts have included releasing a request for information, soliciting a consultant and requesting public input.
The State Department of Health also wrote on Facebook that regional listening sessions will be hosted in September. The request for information closes Sept. 5.
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