CMS details rural health fund application process

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released details on the application process for the Rural Health Transformation Program. Among other priorities, CMS said recipients could use funds for technological innovations, interventions to improve chronic disease management, and to recruit and retain a rural health workforce. CMS will release applications by mid-September, with submissions due in early November. The agency will determine recipients by Dec. 31. The program, established as part of the reconciliation bill’s passage, will fund $50 billion to rural providers from fiscal year 2026 to FY 2030. In August, the American Hospital Association urged CMS to prioritize payments to rural hospitals for workforce recruitment and retention, infrastructure and telehealth services.