Earlier this month, Gov. Dan Mckee announced that the federal government awarded $156 million to the state as part of the Rural Health Transformation Program. The grant will be distributed to 13 initiatives aimed toward improving health care in 18 state-designated rural towns.
The program, established by the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” allocates a total of $50 billion to eligible states with rural communities. This money is the first of five possible awards — but Rhode Island will only get the funding if the state continues to comply with the program’s required policy changes. Those include encouraging pharmacists and dental hygienists to delegate non-specialized tasks, requiring continued nutrition education for doctors and implementing licensure compacts that make it easier for doctors to work across state lines.
McKee submitted a budget amendment to the Rhode Island House and Senate Finance committees earlier this month that would adjust the budgets and policies of six state agencies to reflect these requirements. If approved by the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state will continue to be eligible for more funding on an annual basis.
The majority of the funds will be allocated towards supporting hospitals transitioning to value-based payments — a system that pays doctors based on health outcomes and the quality of care rather than by the number of visits.
The state will provide financial incentives and technical assistance to hospitals to “strengthen care coordination, quality reporting and population health management,” according to a Mckee press release.
The program also aims to grow the rural workforce. In an effort to expand access and address workforce shortages, the state will invest in recruitment, training and retention strategies for medical employees.
“Rhode Island’s rural health care system is best described as fragile but functioning — the result of purposeful efforts, with limited capacity to absorb additional strain,” Ashley O’Shea, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Other incentives include helping rural hospitals adopt interoperable data systems, improving at-home care and expanding capacities for behavioral health providers.
“The investments in value-based care, technology and the health care workforce will strengthen community health centers and their capacity to continue delivering high quality care to 1 in 5 Rhode Islanders,” Elena Nicolella, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Center Association — a nonprofit supporting community health centers — wrote in an email to The Herald.
She appreciates that the program acknowledges “the crucial role community health centers play in providing services to their patients.”
“By expanding preventive and behavioral health services, investing in our healthcare workforce and building a more integrated support system, these funds will support both those who deliver care and those who rely on it every day,” Mike Sroczynski, president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, wrote in a statement emailed to The Herald.
O’Shea noted that EOHHS, alongside a number of other organizations and state agencies, developed the initial funding application with help from “extensive public input through a statewide rural health survey, which captured the experiences and priorities of rural residents and providers.”
According to O’Shea, “adults in rural Rhode Island experience a 15% higher rate of hypertension … a 28% higher rate of cardiovascular disease … and 15% higher rate of tobacco use than their non-rural counterparts.”
She noted that Rhode Island’s rural population is significantly older and “more vulnerable” than that of non-rural areas. As a result, funding will prioritize addressing the health needs of older adults.
The bill will help alleviate the current primary care shortage across the state, a phenomenon that is especially pronounced in rural areas of the state, O’Shea wrote.
“The overall availability of primary care physicians is 37% lower than in non-rural areas.” she stated. “Through the grant, we will advance comprehensive primary care practice transformation and support hospitals and primary care practices in transitioning to value-based payment,” she added.
