by Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix
More than $209 million in federal funding is headed Florida’s way to bolster health care in rural communities.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the first-year grant awards in a press release Monday. The awards are part of the the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion initiative in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act intended to modernize health care in these communities. The CMS release notes that grants were approved for every state.
At $209 million, Florida ranks just above the average grant award of $200 million, according to the press release. Grants ranged from a low of $147 million (New Jersey) to a high of $281 million (Texas).
“More than 60 million Americans living in rural areas have the right to equal access to quality care,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a written statement.
“This historic investment puts local hospitals, clinics, and health workers in control of their communities’ healthcare. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, rural Americans will now have affordable healthcare close to home, free from bureaucratic obstacles.”
The Trump law cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid over the next decade. To help offset those reductions, Congress included in the bill a $50 billion, five-year initiative to help fund rural programs. The law requires distribution of half of the money equally among states that submit applications for the program.
The remaining money is allocated based on a state’s “rural profile.”
There are 67 counties in Florida; 31 are considered “rural” under Florida law. The 2020 Census put Florida’s rural population at 1,183,017 people.
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris said last month that the state hoped for “maximum funding” and to make grant applications available on the agency’s website in January or February.
“We’ll have to get budget authority through the Legislature to be able to tap into any funding that we’re awarded, but we’ll put out those requests for applications,” Harris said during a National Rural Health Day event in Lake City.
A CMS document summarizing states’ grant applications shows Florida’s is dubbed ” Making Rural Florida Healthy Again.”
The Florida plan has five stated goals, to quote the CMS document:
- Improve Access: Combine urban-led rural clinics, mobile health, community paramedicine, tele-specialties, remote monitoring, retail pharmacy clinics, and nutrition focused Health and Lifestyle initiatives to offer preventive, chronic disease, behavioral health, and maternal care directly to residents.
- Improve Outcomes: Reduce preventable hospitalizations and improve chronic, behavioral, and maternal health outcomes through evidence-based, technology-enabled interventions.
- Enhance Technology and Data Use: Advance telehealth, remote monitoring, and health information exchange and encounter notification systems to improve continuity, efficiency, and performance tracking.
- Strengthen Workforce: Build a lasting rural workforce pipeline through the Clinical Training Investment Opportunity (CTIO) initiative, with supervised rotations and five-year rural service commitments.
- Ensure Financial Sustainability: Implement value-based payment models and promote (an) integrated Medicare-Medicaid plans initiative to stabilize rural hospitals and strengthen provider solvency through more streamlined billing for providers.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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