U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
12/29/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/29/2025 15:41
Crapo Applauds Rural Health Transformation Program Awards
December 29,2025
Crapo Applauds Rural Health Transformation Program Awards
Washington, D.C.-Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Idaho will be receiving a substantial investment in rural health care over several years, thanks to Republican legislation spearheaded by U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in 2025. The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), created as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, supplies $50 billion over the next five years to provide immediate relief to rural hospitals facing issues like low patient volumes and outdated technology while helping states make long-term investments in their rural health systems. The program is the single largest investment in rural health care in over two decades.
All fifty states applied for and were awarded funding through the RHTP. Idaho will receive over $185 million in 2026. According to the grant application submitted by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the state will use the award to expand telehealth services, improve recruitment and training for its rural health care workers and support a variety of disease prevention and early intervention programs. Idaho also plans to set aside 3.5 percent of its award to support tribal health care programs.
"The projects supported by this grant will help Idahoans in remote areas get the care they need, even long after the program ends," said Crapo. "The variety and creativity of the initiatives approved by CMS make clear the importance of the Rural Health Transformation Program to America's rural health care systems. This is also a useful reminder of the value of allowing states to tailor health care programs to the individual needs of their communities instead of following a one-size-fits-all federal strategy. Americans from every state have good reason to celebrate this significant investment in rural health care."
Read about Idaho's approved grant of $185,974,368 HERE.
Read about all RHTP awards HERE.
Read the Finance Committee's fact sheet about the Rural Health Transformation Program HERE.
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