Senator Collins Preserves $190 Million Federal Investment in Maine’s Rural Hospitals and Health Centers

Maine's funding was in jeopardy this week prior to Senator Collins' intervention

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, intervened to preserve Maine's $190 million in first-year funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). This program is a $50 billion initiative to be awarded over five years that she proposed to support rural health care systems across the country.

Maine's funding was at risk of being rescinded and reallocated to other states because the state missed milestones and provided inadequate information to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on implementation of the $190 million award. Alerted by CMS that Maine's funding was in jeopardy, Senator Collins stressed to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz how critical the funding is to Maine's rural hospitals and other health care providers serving rural Mainers. She asked that CMS work with the state to bring it into compliance, which occurred.

"Maine's rural hospitals are under serious strain, with maternity wards and emergency departments continuing to close in rural communities across the state. That is why I advocated for the establishment of this fund last summer to make the largest federal investment in rural health care in more than 20 years," said Senator Collins. "When I was informed that the State of Maine's funding was at risk, I made clear in conversations with CMS Administrator Oz just how critical these resources are to rural Mainers whose future access to care close to home is at stake. I am very pleased that, as a result of these discussions, CMS has informed me that the state's funding is now back on track. This historic $190 million investment comes at a critical time for rural health care."

Maine's population is the oldest of any state in the nation and is among the most rural, placing unique strains on its health care system.

The Rural Health Transformation Program represents the largest single federal investment in rural health care in more than two decades. Senator Collins proposed the funding during negotiations over amendments to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). She successfully pushed to expand the RHTP to $50 billion and ensure that a broad range of rural providers would be eligible for support. Senator Collins opposed the OBBBA due to other provisions. CMS is expected to distribute the $50 billion initiative in tranches of $10 billion over each of the next five years.

The State of Maine's application for RHTP funding, submitted by the state with the support of the entire congressional delegation, focuses on five core priorities: empowering rural Mainers to achieve their own healthy living goals; strengthening the rural health workforce; adopting health-enabling technologies such as telehealth and electronic medical records; reducing financial and transportation-related barriers to care; and sustaining the long-term viability of Maine's rural health care system.

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