By Arielle Zionts and Sarah Jane Tribble – In the final days of 2025, governors around the country trumpeted the hundreds of millions of federal dollars they won from a new, $50 billion rural health fund. But plans to spend those nine-digit awards aren’t all warmly received.
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By Sarah Jane Tribble, Arielle Zionts, & Maia Rosenfeld – In late December, President Donald Trump’s administration announced how much all 50 states would get under its new Rural Health Transformation Program, assigning them to use the money to fix systemic problems that leave rural Americans without access to good health care. Now, the clock is ticking.
By Sarah Jane Tribble & Arielle Zionts – Echo Kopplin wants South Dakota’s leaders to know that money from a new $50 billion federal rural health fund should help residents with limited transportation options. Kopplin, a physician assistant who works with seniors, low-income people, and mental health patients in the rural Black Hills, shared her thoughts at a meeting hosted by state officials.
By Sarah Jane Tribble – Federal lawmakers face a year-end deadline to solidify or scuttle an array of covid-era payment changes for telehealth services that include allowing people to stay in their homes to see a doctor or therapist.
The thought leaders in our community are good about sharing their thoughts on the issues of today. Here are the top read and shared guest posts of September that we think deserve sharing again.
By Sarah Jane Tribble – Jerome Antone said he is one of the lucky ones. After becoming ill with COVID-19, Antone was hospitalized only 65 miles away from his small Alabama town. He is the mayor of Georgiana — population 1,700. “It hit our rural community so rabid,” Antone said. The town’s hospital closed last year.
By Sarah Jane Tribble – As rural hospital closures roil the country, some states are banking on a Trump administration proposal to change the way hospital payments are calculated to rescue them.