Eleven states have outlined plans to address post-acute care coordination as part of their participation in the new CMS Rural Health Transformation Program.
The application window for the program ran from Sept. 15 to Nov. 5, and final awards were issued Dec. 29. All 50 states received part of the program’s $50 billion in funding across five years. The program was established under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and expanded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
States were required to submit project abstracts summarizing how the funding would be utilized and the anticipated outcomes.
Here are the plans outlined by 11 states specific to post-acute care:
- Alaska plans to expand and sustain post-acute care services across the state’s rural communities through its Health Care Access initiative.
- Alabama and Ohio both plan to expand EMS treat-in-place care models to reduce unnecessary emergency department use, allowing EMS to treat low-acuity patients on-site or transport them to alternate destinations.
- Hawaii will expand the medical respite model to rural areas through its Rural Respite Network. The program aims to reduce preventable hospital use among unhoused or post-acute patients with low medical acuity.
- Indiana will dedicate a portion of its funding to Innovative Care, a set of patient-centered models intended to address access barriers to post-acute services.
- Iowa will invest in the EMS Community Care Mobile initiative, which expands telehealth capabilities for high-risk transports and delivers care directly to rural communities. Mobile integrated healthcare teams will provide prenatal, postpartum, post-surgical, chronic disease and other in-home or locally accessible services.
- Mississippi will launch the CRIS initiative, which integrates EMS, hospitals, public health and social services into regional healthcare districts to improve emergency response, post-discharge coordination and behavioral health access.
- Nebraska will develop hub-and-spoke regional networks under its Regionalized Rural Access and Navigation program. The effort will improve access to post-acute care through partnerships with local health departments, tribal organizations, rural hospitals and clinics.
- North Dakota plans to transform care delivery with its Bring High-Quality Health Care Closer to Home initiative. The program includes deploying telehealth hubs, mobile clinics and remote patient monitoring, while supporting new care coordination models and focusing on sustainability through workforce efficiencies and diversified funding.
- Rhode Island will pursue accessibility improvements for rural providers and community spaces through one initiative, and hospital-at-home care through another. The former will improve physical access and disability-competent care for older adults and people with disabilities. The latter will allow hospitals to deliver acute care in patients’ homes, supported by remote monitoring and EMS partnerships.
- Virginia will invest in early-stage health technology, modernize EHRs and expand remote patient monitoring through its CareIQ initiative. The state aims to improve care coordination, reduce administrative burden and support value-based care transformation.
Read all 50 state abstracts here.
