New Hampshire Secures Second-Year Federal Grant for Rural Health Efforts

State officials said the first year of money has already gone into work with medical providers, colleges and universities.

New Hampshire has received another $204.3 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the second year of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Tuesday.

The latest award follows a grant of similar size announced late last year and will continue efforts tied to a five-year, $50 billion rural health initiative created through the 2025 budget reconciliation measure sometimes referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill.

State officials said the first year of money has already gone into work with medical providers, community health and mental health centers, and colleges and universities. Donnalee Lozeau, who leads the Governor’s Office of New Opportunities and Rural Transformational Health, said the state has directed more than $11 million toward rural emergency medical services and Mobile Integrated Health. She said additional investments have been launched in rural primary care, school-based oral health, rural hospitals, youth and adult health workforce education, rural home health, children’s behavioral health access, and community mental health.

Ayotte said the state intends to keep building on those efforts so residents in every part of New Hampshire can get care that is more accessible, innovative and affordable.

The new funding arrives as federal Medicaid spending is projected to fall by $911 billion over 10 years under the same law, including an estimated $137 billion in rural areas and $2.3 billion in New Hampshire, according to KFF, a national health policy nonprofit.

Lori Weaver, commissioner of the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, said the money will help the state keep strengthening the healthcare workforce, broadening primary and behavioral health access, and increasing the use of technology to support rural communities across New Hampshire.