CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, shared with CBS News “Face the Nation” on Aug. 3 that applications for the Rural Health Transformation Program are set to go out in September.
The program is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed on July 4, and allocates $50 billion over a five-year period to aid rural health initiatives.
“They’ll get the applications in early September,” Dr. Oz said. “The money is designed to help you with workforce development, right-sizing the system and using technology to provide things like telehealth that can change the world. Imagine if we can change the way we think about the delivery of health and make it more about getting people healthy so they can thrive and flourish and be fully present in their own lives and as Americans.”
Half of the program’s funding will be equally divided among states with approved applications, which could potentially grant the same funding to small states like Vermont and large states like Texas. The other $25 billion is to be spent at Dr. Oz’s discretion.
“You have 7% of Medicaid money going to rural hospitals,” he said. “We’re putting $50 billion dollars … the president wants this, the Congress wants this.”
Dr. Oz also has the authority to approve or deny state applications, and can decide how the program’s discretionary pool funding is distributed.
“The Rural Health Transformation Program represents a generational investment in the sustainability of rural health infrastructure and outcomes,” a spokesperson for CMS said in an Aug. 5 statement shared with Becker’s. “The program is under development, and CMS is working in coordination with whole-of-government partners. Additional details will be shared as implementation advances.”
