Tracking State Rural Health Transformation Plans
KFF Health News is working to collect and post approved plans as more states respond to emails and public records requests for their documents.
Rural Health
KFF Health News covers the health issues facing people who live in America’s rural reaches.
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Summer’s Health Policy Themes
Episode 461As summer wanes, some of the season’s major health policy stories continue to simmer, including declining insurance coverage, increasing measles cases, and cuts to federal health programs. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dean Rosen about his work for former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, who died last week at 94.
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$50B Rural Health Transformation Program Needs More Transparency, Groups Say
States must submit Rural Health Transformation Program progress reports to the federal government, but they aren’t required to proactively post those reports, or related information, publicly.
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A Camp for Children With Brain Injuries Zips Ahead, Despite Federal Uncertainty
Federal programs that support brain injury research and services are in flux, with lapsed legislation and a diminished injury-tracking workforce. Still, in rural Pennsylvania, children with acquired brain injuries gathered for a summer camp that emphasized community, confidence, and fun.
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In Toss-Up House District, Voters Crave Leadership To Fix Broken Healthcare
Voters in California’s 22nd Congressional District call healthcare a top priority in November’s midterm elections. Although challenger Randy Villegas has built a following among residents craving change, undecided voters say they want to hear more from the Democrat and from GOP incumbent Rep. David Valadao on their affordability plans.
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Drive for Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns in Southwest
Federal efforts to revive uranium mining in the West and decrease reliance on Russian uranium are raising concerns about drinking water for tribal communities reckoning with the industry’s deadly legacy.
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People With Disabilities Say Medicaid’s Limits on Income Stifle Career Advancement
Special Medicaid programs in many states allow disabled people to work while receiving benefits, and most limit how much participants can earn and the assets they can hold. Some Iowans are pushing lawmakers to remove those limits, which they say can dampen their career prospects.
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Hospitals Say They Found a Tool To Help Reduce Childbirth Risks: Wristbands
North Carolina and other states have embraced “I Gave Birth” wristbands as a way to encourage women to seek help when they have postpartum complications. They’re gaining steam as the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid threaten postpartum care.
By Andrew Jones -
Patients Wary of Governments, Companies Pushing AI as a Rural Healthcare Solution
The $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program is set to flood rural America with new AI health tools. That’s despite little evidence on whether health-related AI can improve access to care and patient health in those communities.
By Arielle Zionts and Darius Tahir -
Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push Up Healthcare Costs
A federal disclosure rule is offering new insight on the effect of healthcare monopolies on pricing, following a wave of U.S. mergers.
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Medicaid Work Rule Leaves Homeless People in the Cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government’s list of exemptions left off homeless people.
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Earlier Lifeline for Rural Hospitals Faces Test Under ‘Big Beautiful’ Law
A century-old rural Michigan hospital converted to a stripped-down model Congress created to help keep small facilities afloat, then it closed. The emergency hospital model, created a few years ago, is stabilizing some hospitals, arrived too late for others, and now faces major challenges under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Tony Leys -
The Newest Federally Recognized Tribe Wants Better Healthcare. It May Be On Its Own.
North Carolina's Robeson County, where most of the tribe’s citizens live, ranks as one of the worst counties in the U.S. for health disparities. After securing federal recognition, Lumbee tribal leaders will have to decide how to address them.
By Andrew Jones -
Trump Has Quietly Throttled an Agency Devoted to the Safety of American Healthcare
Congress appropriated $345 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for the 2026 fiscal year, but the agency has spent less than $15 million on grants. AHRQ hasn’t issued a new one in over a year.
By Arthur Allen -
A Death Revives Concerns About Police Brutality Six Years After National Reckoning
In a church in rural Missouri, mourners lined up to say goodbye to Lloyd Gilmore, a 44-year-old Black father who died in police custody last month. His death sparked protests in a city with a long history of racial violence, even as the national conversation about police brutality has waned. Six years after worldwide calls for change, what’s happened to the movement?
By Cara Anthony -
American Scientists See Prosecutions as Part of Federal Campaign Against Them
Federal officials charged two virologists they stopped en route from an African disease outbreak with violating import rules. But scientists tell KFF Health News the inactivated samples they carried posed no threat to the public, and they characterize the arrests as part of a government harassment campaign.
By Katheryn Houghton and Arthur Allen -
Severely Ill Prisoners Granted Early Release Are Left Stuck Behind Bars
Prisoners with severe medical conditions can be granted compassionate release, but without a long-term care facility willing to accept them, many continue to wait in prison as their conditions worsen.
By Ashley Mizuo -
Pregnant Woman’s Roadside Death Triggers Push To Reopen Mississippi Delta Hospital
The deaths of Harmony Ball-Stribling and her unborn daughter five years ago have galvanized local leaders determined to reopen a Mississippi Delta hospital. But once a rural community loses a hospital, bringing it back can be nearly impossible.
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Facing Funding Losses, States Call Out Big Businesses With Employees on Medicaid
With the federal Medicaid work requirements looming in January, Democrats are considering state legislation to call out big companies that employ workers enrolled in the safety net health program. Business giants such as Amazon and Walmart said the figures are misleading.
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They Harvest the Nation’s Food, but a New Rule May Strip Them of Health Insurance
New Medicaid work requirements could make a complex system even harder for farmworkers to navigate.
By Paula Andalo -
Thousands of Medicare Beneficiaries Thought Their Drug Plan Was Free. Then They Lost It.
Thousands of people who had a Medicare drug plan with zero-dollar premiums last year got small premium increases this year — and didn’t know it. They were dropped from their coverage for failing to pay amounts as little as $8, and most can’t get it again until 2027.
By Susan Jaffe