- Details
- By Elyse Wild
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced yesterday awards to all 50 states under the Rural Health Transformation Program, a new initiative touted as the solution to the healthcare gaps that plague rural communities across the U.S.
The funds are aimed at supporting programs, such as physical fitness and nutrition programs, food-as-medicine initiatives, and chronic disease prevention models, expanding preventative and emergency health services, modernizing rural facilities, and expanding telehealth and bolstering the workforce.
But, the multi-billion-dollar fund doesn’t directly provide support to the communities that bear the brunt of the health disparities wrought by lack of healthcare infrastructure in rural America: Native American tribes. Instead, tribes must apply through their states to receive subgrants from the funds.
The RHT fund was included in the Big Beautiful Bill at the 11th hour as states faced massive Medicaid cuts that would reduce rural health care spending by billions of dollars.
The grants are distributed in two parts: 50% equally among all approved states, with the remainder allocated based on a scoring system that takes into account the rurality of the state's health system, existing state policies aimed at rural health care, and the potential impact of proposed programs.
Native people living on reservations face some of the highest health disparities across the board, from high rates of chronic diseases —including diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease — cancers, substance use disorders, maternal mortality, suicide rates and more. Experts have long pointed to the lasting effects of colonialism and broken treaty promises, fracturing access to healthcare and leaving rural Native communities with little access to care. At 71.9 years, American Indian and Alaska Native peoples have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic group in the U.S.
A handful of states, such as Alaska, South Dakota, and New Mexico, included Native tribes and tribal health organizations in their applications for funding, which closed in early November.
In a document of state awards and programs, mention of tribes and tribal health organizations is sparse. Below is each reference to Native populations regarding the awards:
Alaska - References "Tribal Health Organizations" as funding subrecipients who will participate in the program.
Hawaii - Lists "Tribal partners" among key stakeholders for collaboration.
New Mexico - Specifically mentions "Tribal communities" as a target population and includes "Tribal health organizations" as potential subrecipients. Their Rural Health Innovation Fund aims to empower "rural, frontier, and Tribal communities."
New York - Notes engagement with "Tribal and faith-based organizations" among stakeholders.
North Dakota - References addressing "widening outcome gaps for Tribal and frontier communities."
Oklahoma - Mentions partnerships with "Tribal Nations" as stakeholders in developing the plan.
Oregon - Includes "The Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon" with a dedicated set-aside funding allocation. Also mentions "Tribal leaders" in collaboration efforts.
Rhode Island - Lists the "Narragansett Indian Tribe" as a named subrecipient, with specific place-based investments (Initiative 9) to strengthen their health systems through home-based care, telehealth, and facility upgrades.
South Dakota - References "Tribal governments" as critical rural health partners.
Washington - Proposes investing "in the health of Native families" and mentions "increasing training capacity for Tribal providers."
Wisconsin - Mentions "Tribal governments" and "Tribal health departments" as organizations that will be involved in the work.
More Stories Like This
Community Safety Alert Issued Over Out-of-State “Treatment” TransfersLanguage is Medicine: Navajo Researcher Tackles Speech Delays in Native Communities
Artificial Intelligence Impacts the Art and Science of Dentistry - Part 1
Chumash Tribe’s Project Pink Raises $10,083 for Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Breast Imaging Center
