Wyoming officials have proposed creating a Rural Health Transformation Perpetuity fund to extend five years of federal rural health grants into potentially decades of funding. The state could tackle rural health issues long into the future by investing its awards from the new $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program, according to Stefan Johansson, director of Wyoming’s health department.
If approved, Wyoming’s Rural Health Transformation Perpetuity fund could provide $28.5 million for the state to spend every year. Wyoming would spend the money on scholarships for health students and incentive payments to help keep small hospitals and rural ambulance services afloat. Wyoming will receive $205 million in the program’s first year, $5 million more than it asked for.
The proposal is novel and raises questions about federal approval. Kevin Bennett, director of the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare, called it “very clever” but expressed uncertainty about whether the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will approve of the plan. Wyoming’s legislation says the state would put 80% of this year’s award—$164 million—and 69.5% of the funding it receives over the next four years into the fund. The state treasurer’s office would invest the fund in equities, including stocks.
The state would spend 4% of the fund’s money each year, in line with its expected return. About 41% of the annual fund distribution would be spent on incentive payments for qualifying small hospitals. The remaining spending would go to scholarships for nursing, behavioral health, emergency medical services, and physician education in exchange for recipients working in the state for five years. The Wyoming House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the bill on February 12, sending the legislation to the House floor.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/wyoming-rural-health-transformation-funding-grants/