By Lily Guiney
Gongwer Law
Michigan is the recipient of more than $173 million in funding from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services?under a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
The funds have been allocated in part to all 50 states via the Rural Health Transformation Program, which was added to the 2026 federal budget to assuage political fallout among blue-state congressional Republicans during negotiations and offset the impact of the bill’s Medicaid cuts, which opponents and medical industry officials said would hit rural communities hardest.
The program split a $50 billion appropriation in half, distributing 50% of the funding to every state equally. The other half was doled out in sums which brought state totals to between $147 million and $281 million, based on a weighted model that considered rural population size, the financial health of each state’s medical facilities and population health outcomes.
Rural health dollars will be distributed over five years, and the ongoing funding includes $12 billion to be tied specifically to states’ implementation of “Make America Healthy Again” initiatives championed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., like banning the purchase of sugary foods with SNAP dollars or requiring schools to participate in the Presidential Fitness Test. The funding will be re-calculated annually based on states’ fulfillment of the Trump administration’s policy goals.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the grant funds will be important for Michigan’s rural communities, but stopped short of thanking the federal government for dollars she said will largely have to make up for the loss of services that are likely to result from the OBBBA’s Medicaid cuts.
“Today’s investment will support access to health care for rural communities across Michigan as we deal with funding shortfalls caused by federal Medicaid cuts,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This $173 million grant will help us connect more Michiganders to the care they need and provide essential wraparound supports. In Michigan, we have successfully worked together to protect quality, affordable health care, and we will continue finding ways to secure more federal funds, expand coverage and lower costs.”
DHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel did not comment directly on the impact of the grant dollars versus the cuts, but said the proposal her department put together to receive the funding plans to support regional partnerships among rural providers and organizations to improve care coordination, expand access points and financially sustainable care models, create a rural technology catalyst fund to improve data exchange and telehealth services and recruit and retain health care workers in rural areas, among other things.
“Michigan continues to support a resilient and innovative rural health system where every resident has access to high-quality care close to home,” Hertel said in a statement. “Our approved proposal for these federal funds focuses on enhancing the long-term sustainability of rural providers while supporting their growth and continued service to their communities.”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the “unprecedented federal investment” would help expand access to care in rural areas and strengthen the health care field in those communities by growing its workforce and updating facilities and equipment.
“Today marks an extraordinary milestone for rural health in America,” Oz said in a statement. “Thanks to Congress establishing this investment and President Trump for his leadership, states are stepping forward with bold, creative plans to expand rural access, strengthen their workforces, modernize care, and support the communities that keep our nation running. CMS is proud to partner with every state to turn their ideas into lasting improvements for rural families.”
DHHS hosted an online survey and two listening sessions before submitting its application, to gather input on how the funding could help increase and improve sustainability for rural providers, a press release from DHHS said.
Gongwer Law
Michigan is the recipient of more than $173 million in funding from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services?under a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
The funds have been allocated in part to all 50 states via the Rural Health Transformation Program, which was added to the 2026 federal budget to assuage political fallout among blue-state congressional Republicans during negotiations and offset the impact of the bill’s Medicaid cuts, which opponents and medical industry officials said would hit rural communities hardest.
The program split a $50 billion appropriation in half, distributing 50% of the funding to every state equally. The other half was doled out in sums which brought state totals to between $147 million and $281 million, based on a weighted model that considered rural population size, the financial health of each state’s medical facilities and population health outcomes.
Rural health dollars will be distributed over five years, and the ongoing funding includes $12 billion to be tied specifically to states’ implementation of “Make America Healthy Again” initiatives championed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., like banning the purchase of sugary foods with SNAP dollars or requiring schools to participate in the Presidential Fitness Test. The funding will be re-calculated annually based on states’ fulfillment of the Trump administration’s policy goals.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the grant funds will be important for Michigan’s rural communities, but stopped short of thanking the federal government for dollars she said will largely have to make up for the loss of services that are likely to result from the OBBBA’s Medicaid cuts.
“Today’s investment will support access to health care for rural communities across Michigan as we deal with funding shortfalls caused by federal Medicaid cuts,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This $173 million grant will help us connect more Michiganders to the care they need and provide essential wraparound supports. In Michigan, we have successfully worked together to protect quality, affordable health care, and we will continue finding ways to secure more federal funds, expand coverage and lower costs.”
DHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel did not comment directly on the impact of the grant dollars versus the cuts, but said the proposal her department put together to receive the funding plans to support regional partnerships among rural providers and organizations to improve care coordination, expand access points and financially sustainable care models, create a rural technology catalyst fund to improve data exchange and telehealth services and recruit and retain health care workers in rural areas, among other things.
“Michigan continues to support a resilient and innovative rural health system where every resident has access to high-quality care close to home,” Hertel said in a statement. “Our approved proposal for these federal funds focuses on enhancing the long-term sustainability of rural providers while supporting their growth and continued service to their communities.”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the “unprecedented federal investment” would help expand access to care in rural areas and strengthen the health care field in those communities by growing its workforce and updating facilities and equipment.
“Today marks an extraordinary milestone for rural health in America,” Oz said in a statement. “Thanks to Congress establishing this investment and President Trump for his leadership, states are stepping forward with bold, creative plans to expand rural access, strengthen their workforces, modernize care, and support the communities that keep our nation running. CMS is proud to partner with every state to turn their ideas into lasting improvements for rural families.”
DHHS hosted an online survey and two listening sessions before submitting its application, to gather input on how the funding could help increase and improve sustainability for rural providers, a press release from DHHS said.
