by Guy Page
Governor Phil Scott Tuesday, December 30 praised the Trump administration after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Vermont will receive over $195 million in Rural Health Transformation Funds in 2026, which is among the highest award per capita in the nation:
“This is good news for Vermont, and I’m appreciative to the Trump Administration for their partnership on this, as we work to advance our shared priorities of rural health transformation. While there are still implementation details to work out, this significant investment will help us build on the good work we’ve started to make rural healthcare more affordable and accessible.”
Not surprisingly, the awards also drew praise from the White House press office: “Today marks an extraordinary milestone for rural health care in America. The Trump Administration announced funding awards to states through the Rural Health Transformation Program— an unprecedented $50 billion investment established by Republicans under President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts legislation.
“This historic initiative, that every single Democrat voted AGAINST, represents the largest federal investment in rural health care in American history. Access to quality care should not be determined by your zip code. Today’s announcement highlights the Trump Administration’s commitment to strengthening the rural health workforce, modernizing facilities and technology, and deploying innovative care models that bring high-quality health services to rural communities nationwide.”
One prominent figure in Vermont’s political world NOT praising the Trump administration funding decision was former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman. He said “Trump deserves no credit for this. But he is naming it in his name to dupe people.”
In a comment on former state senator and current Essex County prosecutor Vince Illuzzi’s Facebook page, Zuckerman said: “it also was added at the last minute because a couple of the last (somewhat) reasonable Republicans (Murkowski primarily if my memory serves correctly) held out their votes until this was added as a last bit (as Bob indicated) to get her vote. And yes… The $50 Billion is 1/20th of the Trillion that was not appropriated for the ACA. So everyday folks are going to pay through the nose. While rural hospitals, which would have been better off with payment for care provided to people on expanded Medicaid. Vince, you know how the game is played. Trump deserves no credit for this. But he is naming it in his name to dupe people. You can do better.
Scott’s statement offered more details about the RHTP:
About the Rural Health Transformation Program:
The Rural Health Transformation Program’s $50 billion in funds will be allocated over five years, with $10 billion available each year from 2026 through 2030. As directed by Public Law 119-21:
- 50% of the funding is distributed equally among all approved states. This provides states with a strong foundation to begin implementing their Rural Health Transformation Plans; and
- 50% is allocated based on a variety of factors. As described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, those factors include individual state metrics around rurality and a state’s rural health system, current or proposed state policy actions that enhance access and quality of care in rural communities, and application initiatives or activities that reflect the greatest potential for, and scale of, impact on the health of rural communities. All scoring factors are outlined further in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
It remains unclear specifically how the State of Vermont will spend its RHTP funding. Here are the federal guidelines:
tates must use RHT Program funds for three or more of the approved uses of funds:
- Promoting evidence-based, measurable interventions to improve prevention and chronic disease management.
- Providing payments to health care providers for the provision of health care items or services, as specified by the Administrator.
- Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.
- Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies.
- Recruiting and retaining clinical workforce talent to rural areas, with commitments to serve rural communities for a minimum of 5 years.
- Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes.
- Assisting rural communities to right size their health care delivery systems by identifying needed preventative, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency, acute inpatient care, outpatient care, and post-acute care service lines.
- Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment services (as defined in section 1861(jjj)(1)), other substance use disorder treatment services, and mental health services.
- Developing projects that support innovative models of care that include value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models, as appropriate.