Medicaid and SNAP Funding

The administration announced the first 2026 awards from the $50 billion rural health fund created in the summer GOP megabill, with an average state award of about $200 million (Texas the largest, Alaska second at $272 million). Half the fund is distributed equally to boost small-population states while the other half is tied to state policy choices — including “Make Rural America Healthy Again” (MAHA) measures like a presidential fitness test — a setup CMS chief Mehmet Oz praised and that reportedly involved assurances to GOP senators (including talks that preceded Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s vote), even as critics say the fund won’t offset nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the same bill.