The Rural Health Transformation Program, created by Congress through what has become known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will provide $50 billion over the next five years to help states transform rural health – both how rural residents access services as well as how health care providers deliver care and treatment.
It’s going to trickle down to local health care providers, from doctors’ offices and hospitals to health departments.
Granville-Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison said it’s both an exciting and a daunting time, as providers await details from the state about just how to go about implementing particulars of the program.
The program comes at a time when deep cuts to Medicaid are looming, and skyrocketing insurance premiums have created worry among individuals who can’t afford the big jump in costs.
All states will get money over the next five years as they come up with ways to improve sustain rural health – through improving access to care and strengthening the rural health work force, for instance.
North Carolina is poised to receive $213 million in this first round of funding.
The second portion of the funding will be more subjective, with states hoping to get funding for the particular areas of focus they identify.
“Each state has to show some early wins and good effort around workforce, technology and rural health sustainability before they’ll get the second year,” Harrison explained. “You have to jump in and do your work pretty fast early on.”
That’s something that Harrison and the GVPH team are already working on, given the fact that health departments are “safety nets” for patients by offering health care services regardless of their ability to pay.
Medicaid is especially helpful for children and for disabled people, Harrison said, as well as being an insurance program for those workers who meet income and household requirements and who don’t get health insurance through their job.
“There are lots of people who need Medicaid – it’s an important program to keep the costs down for all of us, for sure,” Harrison said.
“All of us benefit from Medicaid being available for people because it lowers everybody’s insurance rates.”
Things in the health care world are changing “mighty quickly,” she said, and GVPH is among the providers preparing for less funding in the future.
“My hope is we can find some new and sustainable approaches that get our system to work better and differently together,” Harrison added.
North Carolina leaders have zeroed in on six key strategies to transform its rural health care systems. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services lists the strategies in a project summary found at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ncrhtp-project-summary/open
- Launching a locally governed “NC ROOTS” Hub to connect medical, mental health, and social supports
- Expanding prevention, chronic disease management, and nutrition programs
- Increasing access to mental health services, including substance use disorder treatment
- Investing in the rural health care workforce
- Supporting rural providers in transitioning to value-based care models
- Enhancing technology in health care
“The thing that makes me so excited about this opportunity is all things we’re already trying to figure out and do at Granville-Vance Public Health with our partners – we don’t do these things alone,” Harrison said.
GVPH has a strong network of partners it collaborates with, which points to its readiness to continue to do the transformative work and make access to health care in rural areas as effective as it can be.
“We’re really good in this region of taking care of our neighbors and finding new ways to do this effectively and efficiently,” Harrison said. Future grant funding will allow for more of that collaboration to strengthen programs for rural residents.
Plenty of questions remain, but for now, Harrison said she’s focusing on the energy surround the RHT program to move forward.
“I’m pretty excited about what we could accomplish because I know folks around here are really supportive of making sure that we improve access to care for everybody.”
Learn more about the Rural Health Transformation Program at www.ncdhhs.gov/rhtp. A project summary can be found at https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ncrhtp-project-summary/open
Visit https://www.gvph.org/ to learn about the services and programs available at the local health department.
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