Following a successful application led by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has received $162 million from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to improve rural health in Massachusetts in 2026. This is the first year award of a five-year program, which will run from 2026 through 2030.
Massachusetts worked closely with partners across the state including community members, municipalities, organizations, and health care providers that have ties to or experience with Massachusetts rural communities to develop a competitive application, which was submitted to CMS in early November. The application proposed initiatives and activities responsive to rural health needs and priorities in Massachusetts. EOHHS will continue to work closely with these partners in implementing this program.
“We’re proud that our administration put forward a strong, competitive application that resulted in us securing $162 million to improve health care in rural communities across Massachusetts,” Healey said. “This funding will be used to expand access to essential health care services in rural communities while supporting our hardworking nurses, doctors, EMTs, paramedics, and community health professionals. We’re committed to putting these dollars to work as soon as possible to improve the health and wellbeing of all of our residents.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said, “We know that people in our rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to health care access. We are bringing in every federal dollar we can to Massachusetts to make sure every municipality can benefit from the incredible health care resources we have in our state.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah, MD, MBA, said, “Our aim with this program is to transform the way health care is delivered for residents in rural areas, with investments in critical areas like preventative health care, workforce development, and technology. We are grateful to the many Massachusetts organizations that gave us input to develop our application, and looking forward to working with our partners across the state to make the most of this investment in health in our rural communities.”
The application proposed initiatives and activities that address the following priorities: supporting preventive health care; creating sustainable access to health care; attracting and retaining a high-skilled health care workforce; promoting innovative care models; and fostering use of innovative technologies.
The Rural Health Transformation Program was created through the Federal reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also removed health care funding and significant supports from rural communities across the country and increased the cost of health care for millions of Americans. Congress included the Rural Health Transformation Program in order to offset some of the costs that people will experience due to those cuts. While this program cannot compensate for the impacts of the health care cuts made in the same legislation, Massachusetts will leverage this program to make transformative improvements to the way Massachusetts residents in rural areas access health care.
For more information about Massachusetts’ application and goals for this program, visit: mass.gov/rural-health-transformation-program.
