National media coverage for rural health care advocacy

Rural Democracy is helping to shape the health care conversation and push for solutions that keep rural Americans safe and healthy. Communications and Policy Director Michael Chameides talked with KFF Health News, The Hill, and The New Republic about a new federal program, the Rural Health Transformation Fund.

The Fund was created to offset the $1 trillion cut to rural health care by the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. However, the $50 billion fund isn’t nearly large enough to meet rural healthcare needs, Michael illustrates.

This Rural Health Transformation fund — best-case scenario is it cannot solve the damage that’s being done to health care this year, but at least it can do something helpful.
The Hill

Michael also notes that the program’s funding requirements are vague, making it hard to know how the funds will be used. He emphasizes that the funding should be implemented to minimize rural hospital closures. But he warns about political favoritism and giveaways to the most consolidated hospital systems.

This national coverage, which was republished on CBS and ABC affiliates, complements the place-based work of the Rural Democracy network to advocate for rural solutions to healthcare. You can learn more about solutions for rural health care by seeing our Rural Policy Action Report.