Rural Health Transformation Program

HHS and CMS are declining to release states’ full applications for the $50 billion, five‑year Rural Health Transformation Program during the ongoing merit review, despite the administration’s pledge of “radical transparency,” and say only project summaries for winners will be published. Democrats and some advocates fear politicization of awards; Illinois’ Democratic House delegation wrote to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz in November seeking “full and fair consideration,” while experts and rural stakeholders press for visibility into proposals, budgets, and scoring.