Ohio policymakers debate which providers should be eligible for federal rural health funding

Billions of federal dollars earmarked for rural healthcare are headed to Ohio, and state lawmakers are already drawing lines over who should get them (Source: “Ohio Republicans move to block urban hospitals from taking rural health dollars,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept. 10).
 
The money comes from a $50 billion rural health fund created by H.R. 1, the federal reconciliation bill sometimes referred to as “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
 
The Ohio Hospital Association says nearly three-quarters of the state’s rural hospitals operate in the red, and the fund was created to help offset Medicaid cuts in the federal budget bill.
 
Ohio’s share is estimated at $1.3 billion, based on an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 
 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to release its notice of funding on Monday. Those are the guidelines on how to apply and what kinds of hospitals will qualify.
 
Gov. Mike DeWine recently met with CMS Director Mehmet Oz, and a “significant portion of their conversation” was about rural healthcare.
 
“The hospitals have to meet qualifications, and they will need to do certain things with the money,” DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said. “It’s not a blank check.”