CMS Office Delays Second-Year Rural Health Fund Awards to States
The federal Office of Rural Health Transformation, part of CMS, notified states by email that it needs more time to calculate their second-year allocations from the five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, citing an "additional administrative process requirement." Director Alina Czekai said each state's $100 million base funding for year two is available, but the competitive portion of the award, which varied widely among states in year one, is delayed with no new date given. States were expected to learn their 2027 award amounts by October 31; the delay notice arrived October 30, and Czekai said state budget revisions tied to the new allocations are due back to CMS by November 30. State officials described the notice as "cryptic" and said they were left "in the dark," while Kentucky confirmed the delay and said the rural funds were meant to offset expected federal Medicaid funding reductions.