Three states have announced their submissions of their Rural Health Transformation (RHT) plans to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week. \u00a0<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the deadline for submission, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong and Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe both announced that their plans have been submitted. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves unveiled his state\u2019s plan Tuesday. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Many of the initiatives outlined in these plans focus on building infrastructures to improve telehealth access <\/a>and strengthen the health care workforce in rural communities. \u00a0<\/p>\n Why It Matters\u00a0<\/p>\n In September, CMS announced the Rural Health Transformation Program<\/a>, which was authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill and aims to improve health care access, quality and outcomes by transforming the healthcare delivery system in rural communities across America.\u00a0<\/p>\n The program allocates $50 billion to approved states<\/a> over five years, starting in 2026. Half of the funding will be distributed equally to all approved states and the other half will be allocated by CMS based on factors like rural population and the proportion of rural health facilities in the state. <\/p>\n During Sanford Health’s Summit on the Future of Rural Health Care in Sioux Falls in October, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz<\/a> said he doesn’t want to U.S. to be “one big health care system with a small country attached.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe best practices that we discover to help scale health care more effectively in rural America will also work in urban America, suburban America, other counties,” he said during his address. “So let’s use this grand experiment, this five-year effort, to transform health care, to start with rural health care, but spread the wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n This comes as rural communities are struggling with health access amid Medicaid cuts<\/a>, hospital closures,<\/a> labor shortages and lack of access to digital care<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n What To Know\u00a0<\/p>\n In Missouri<\/a>, Kehoe said his plan will create a unified, regional network to connect providers, pharmacies, public health agencies and at-home resources; expand access to primary care, behavioral health and maternity services; strengthen specialty and complex care through telehealth and patient-focused\u00a0technology; increase collaboration between local partners to advance technology, operations and care\u00a0delivery; and incentivize better health outcomes through shared savings of avoidable\u00a0health care costs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate the Trump Administration’s focus on strengthening rural communities and creating this historic funding opportunity through the One Big Beautiful Bill,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cMissouri’s Rural Health Transformation plan is a collaborative effort that will be embedded into every facet of our healthcare system, creating a lasting impact for future generations of rural Missourians.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n