Four U.S. senators sent a June 18 letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, urging targeted adjustments to the Rural Health Transformation Program to help ensure its $50 billion reaches the smallest and most financially vulnerable rural providers.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) warned that current RHTP implementation guidance may unintentionally favor larger systems with greater administrative capacity, leaving independent rural hospitals and clinics at a structural disadvantage in competing for and managing grant funding.
The senators asked Dr. Oz to lift the existing cap on infrastructure and capital improvements, clarify that direct payments to providers are permissible, allow greater flexibility for states to use RHTP funds to offset uncompensated care costs, and revisit restrictions on EHR and health IT investments.
The senators also asked CMS to ensure smaller and independent rural providers can meaningfully access funding alongside larger systems.
“Low reimbursement rates from public payers paired with low volumes are a major contributor to rural hospital financial instability,” the senators said in the letter. “RHTP provides a unique opportunity to address these long-standing challenges and set rural hospitals up for success on their road to transformation.”
Read the full letter here.
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