Sunflower State News

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), has commended the Trump Administration and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz for releasing details on how states can apply for the $50 billion rural health transformation program. This initiative is a central part of The One Big, Beautiful Bill, also called the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

“As the only person on Capitol Hill who has run a rural hospital, I know this better than anyone, the unique challenges facing both rural healthcare systems and the people who rely on them,” said Senator Marshall. “It’s why I worked closely with the Trump Administration as a member of the Senate Finance Committee to help shape and craft the rural health fund to be one that modernizes and adapts to the changes in rural communities and to improve services, quality of care, measurement of, and analysis of healthcare outcomes.”

According to Marshall's office, just 7% of Medicaid hospital spending currently goes to rural hospitals. Rural healthcare infrastructure continues to decline at a higher rate than urban areas, despite higher chronic disease rates in these communities. Since 2010, around 150 rural hospitals have closed or been repurposed into other types of facilities.

The new $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund aims to reverse this trend by supporting long-term improvements in rural healthcare delivery.