Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) and the Department of Public Health and Human Services announced the state will receive $233 million dedicated to rural healthcare in 2026. Montana received the fourth-most money of any state. Only Texas, Alaska, and California received more. The state health department will now submit a revised budget to CMS.
Also in Montana, NACDS encourages interested members to review the information and updates on the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) website.
Highlights include the following:
- In the upper right corner of the website under “Stay Engaged”, please consider signing up for email updates.
- Review “Next Steps”. For questions about this project, please email HHSRuralHealthTransformation@mt.gov”.
- Review “Frequently Asked Questions”, particularly questions related to funding and stakeholder engagement.
- Review “Stakeholder Advisory Meetings”. Below are the agenda and presentation from the January 22, 2026 meeting.
- Rural Health Transformation Stakeholder Advisory Committee presentation: Please note RHTP governance overview (slide #5), procurement (slides #6 and #7), and program initiatives (slides #13 through #29)
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.