Congressman Don Davis Welcomes $213M for Rural Healthcare in North Carolina
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Don Davis (NC-01) welcomed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) announcement of an award of more than $213 million in Fiscal Year 2026 to North Carolina as part of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). The funding, which the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will administer, will help expand access to care in rural communities, strengthen the rural health workforce, modernize facilities and technology, and support innovative models that bring high-quality, dependable care closer to home.
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ North Carolina Rural Health Transformation Program award is vital for improving health outcomes for rural North Carolina families,” said Congressman Davis.
Before this announcement, Congressman Davis led members of the North Carolina congressional delegation in a letter expressing strong support for North Carolina’s RHTP application and urging funding that reflects the state's disproportionately large rural population.
North Carolina’s $213 million award represents a proportional distribution and ranks as the tenth-highest RHTP allocation in the nation. Additional funding announcements for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 are also expected.
“Approval will allow our state, which has three million rural residents across 85 counties—the second-largest rural population in the nation—to expand proven innovative models, foster sustainable innovation, and strengthen our rural workforce. By FY2031, NCRHTP aims to increase rural provider-to-population ratios, reduce preventable hospital readmissions and emergency visits, lower chronic disease risk factors, and expand access to integrated behavioral, mental health, and substance use services,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter dated December 16 to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.
Congressman Davis was joined by North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis, Ted Budd, and Representatives Deborah Ross (NC-02), Greg Murphy (NC-03), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Addison McDowell (NC-06), David Rouzer (NC-07), Richard Hudson (NC-09), Alma Adams (NC-12), and Tim Moore (NC-14).
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