Feds promised "radical transparency" but are withholding rural health fund applications

Source: CBS News

December 2, 2025 / 5:00 AM EST


Medication-delivering drones and telehealth at local libraries are among the ideas state leaders revealed in November for spending their share of a $50 billion federal rural health program. The Trump administration, which has promised "radical transparency," said in an FAQ that it plans to publish the "project summary" for states that win awards. Following the lead of federal regulators, many states are withholding their complete applications, and some have refused to release any details.

"Let's be clear," said Alan Morgan, chief executive of the National Rural Health Association. "The hospital CEOs, the clinic administrators, the community leaders: They're going to want to know what their states are doing." The NRHA's members include struggling rural hospitals and clinics, which federal lawmakers promised would benefit from the Trump administration's Rural Health Transformation Program.

Morgan said his members are interested in what states propose, which of their ideas are approved or rejected, and their budget narratives, which detail how the money could be spent. Improving rural health care is an "insanely complicated and difficult task," Morgan said.

The five-year Rural Health Transformation Program was approved by Congress in a law — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — that also drastically cuts Medicaid spending, on which rural providers heavily depend. It's being watched closely because it's a much-needed influx of funds — with a caveat from the Trump administration that the money be spent on transformational ideas, not just to prop up ailing rural hospitals.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rural-health-fund-states-transparency/