Washington State is set to receive $181 million in federal funding this year to boost rural health care amid drastic Medicaid cuts. The sum, while substantial, falls below the rough average of $200 million per state and below what some other states received. Texas led the nation with $281 million in funding, while Alaska received $272 million, and California and Montana both received approximately $233 million.
Washington is in the middle of the pack when assessed by funding per rural resident. The state’s $162 per capita award for its 1.1 million rural residents places it 29th nationally, according to analysis from the nonpartisan health research group KFF. Some states received under $100 per rural resident, while eight states received more than $500. Democratic-led states tended to fare worse than those run by Republicans, and less rural states also received less money overall.
“I don’t think anyone was surprised that we received less than 200,” said Jacqueline Barton True, the Washington State Hospital Association’s vice president of advocacy and rural health. To Elya Prystowsky, executive director of the Rural Collaborative representing Washington’s rural hospitals, the award was a “pleasant surprise.” “I would have been happy if we got $100 million. So $181 million is $81 million of gravy, as far as I’m concerned.”
Federal Medicaid spending in Washington’s rural communities is set to drop over $4 billion in the next decade, according to KFF. If the award stays at the same level over five years, Washington would receive about $906 million total. The state aims to use the funding for infrastructure, new technologies, growing the rural health workforce, improving tribal health care, building community-based care, and expanding behavioral health services. Over $300 million was earmarked for hospital infrastructure. “Although our state did not receive the full amount requested, we remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people living in rural Washington,” said a Health Care Authority spokesperson.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: http://www.chronline.com/stories/how-washingtons-181m-in-rural-health-funding-stacks-up-with-other-states,393999