Governor Mike Kehoe and the Department of Social Services announced on Wednesday that the State of Missouri had submitted its Rural Health Transformation (RHT) plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to the governor’s press release, Missouri’s program will include:
- Improving healthcare access for rural Missourians by connecting providers, pharmacies, public health agencies, at-home resources, and digital health tools through a unified, regional network.
- Expanding access to primary care, behavioral health, and maternity services in rural communities while strengthening specialty and complex care through telehealth and patient-focused technology.
- Enhancing rural provider sustainability by increasing collaboration among local partners to advance technology, operations, and care delivery, and incentivizing better health outcomes through shared savings of avoidable healthcare costs.
This potential funding opportunity for states was authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress in July. CMS will review each state’s proposal and notify awardees by December 31, 2025. The funding will be distributed in the form of a cooperative agreement over the next five years.
More information about the program can be found here.