Informing the State’s Rural Health Transformation Program
Program Updates:
Thank you for visiting our page. We’re excited to share recent developments and express our sincere gratitude to all of our partners. Your valuable input and collaboration have been instrumental throughout this process. We are pleased to announce that we have officially submitted our grant application!
To promote transparency and continued partnership, we are sharing the following documents below:
Thank you again for your continued support and commitment to our shared goals.
October Public Forums & Survey Results
Thank You for Attending the Public Forums
We appreciate everyone who joined us for the recent public forums on Oregon’s application to the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). Your participation and feedback are invaluable as we move forward with this important application.
During the forums, we discussed:
- Background and timeline of the RHTP
- Summary of public comment received in September
- Oregon’s proposed initiatives
If you were unable to attend or would like to revisit the presentations and discussions, the following resources are available:
RHTP Background
H.R. 1, the Trump Administration’s federal budget reconciliation bill, was signed into law on July 4, 2025, introducing many
long-term impacts to federal funding for Medicaid and SNAP. H.R. 1 also established the one-time, five-year
Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), which makes funding available to states for health-related activities supporting rural communities and rural health system transformation. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will oversee RHTP and provide funding to awarded states between Federal Fiscal Year 2026 through Federal Fiscal Year 2030.
All 50 states are eligible to apply. To be considered for funding, states must submit a RHTP application by November 5, 2025. The application must include a Rural Health Transformation plan, budget narrative, and project narrative outlining proposed initiatives that address specific components detailed in the statute and
NOFO, such as leveraging technologies in chronic disease management and developing strategies for long-term financial solvency of rural hospitals.
Timeline of RHTP Activities
Immediate activities in 2025 include:
- August 20 – September 5: Public comment period
- October 8 and 9: Public forum meetings with OHA
- October 15: Last day to respond to OHA’s additional public input survey
- November 5: Deadline for OHA to submit RHTP application
- By December 31: Award decisions announced by CMS
Anticipated medium-term activities in 2026 include:
- Mid-February: Oregon begins releasing Request for Proposals (RFP) to support approved RHTP initiatives
- Late March: RFP response deadlines
- Early May: RFP awardee decisions announced by OHA
Anticipated Long-term activities in 2027 and beyond include:
- By September 30, 2027: Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2026 RHTP distributions used
- October 1, 2027 – September 30, 2031: Additional RHTP distributions used in subsequent FFYs
- September 30, 2031: RHTP funding ends
RHTP funds cannot supplant state funding for general Medicaid services and are not intended to replace lost operating revenue due to the other impacts of H.R. 1. Not all projects considered permissible uses will receive funding. States must also commit to using RHTP funds for
three or more of the activities listed below.
- Promoting evidence-based, measurable interventions to improve prevention and chronic disease management.
- Providing payments to health care providers for the provision of health care items or services.
- Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.
- Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies.
- Recruiting and retaining clinical workforce talent to rural areas, with commitments to serve rural communities for a minimum of 5 years.
- Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes.
- Assisting rural communities to right size their health care delivery systems by identifying needed preventative, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency, acute inpatient care, outpatient care, and post-acute care service lines.
- Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment services, other substance use disorder treatment services, and mental health services.
- Developing projects that support innovative models of care that include value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models, as appropriate.
- Investing in existing rural health care facility buildings and infrastructure, including minor building alterations or renovations and equipment upgrades to ensure long-term overhead and upkeep costs are commensurate with patient volume, subject to restrictions in the funding policies and limitations.
- Initiating, fostering, and strengthening local and regional strategic partnerships between rural facilities and other health care providers to promote quality improvement, improve financial stability of rural facilities, and expand access to care.