Ohio to get $200M in federal money to aid rural health care, but feds haven’t yet said how

COLUMBUS, Ohio --Ohio is getting $200 cardinal successful national backing to thief toggle shape its agrarian wellness attraction and bring much services person to home.

The money comes from nan Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year, $50 cardinal effort included successful nan national fund measure Congress passed this summer.

The only drawback is nan national authorities has not yet intelligibly explained each nan rules for really nan money tin beryllium spent.

Each year, nan Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will administer $10 cardinal to support agrarian wellness attraction nationwide. Half will beryllium divided evenly among states, and nan remainder will beryllium awarded done a competitory exertion process.

“We are truthful grateful to beryllium awarded this backing truthful that much Ohioans tin person expanded entree and enhanced value to basal wellness care,” Gov. Mike DeWine said successful a statement.

Ohio projected to do nan pursuing pinch its dollars:

• Build much school-based wellness centers.
• Expand nan OhioSEE kid imagination programme to much students.
• Increase home-visiting programs to trim babe deaths.
• Create a “Rural Healthcare Workforce Pipeline” to enlistee students into agrarian jobs.
• Launch invention hubs that link hospitals, clinics, and behavioral-health providers.

But immoderate lawmakers person urged nan politician to nonstop as galore dollars arsenic possible to independent agrarian hospitals that are struggling.

Members of nan Ohio House Rural Hospital Caucus wrote to DeWine earlier this month, asking him to prioritize 13 agrarian hospitals that are not portion of ample wellness systems.

They besides asked nan authorities to dedicate 15% of nan backing to supplier payments, “specifically to reside sum gaps specified arsenic uncompensated attraction aliases basal services not reimbursed by insurance.”

Half of Ohio’s hospitals person operated successful nan reddish since 2022, according to nan Ohio Hospital Association. And successful 2024, 72% of agrarian hospitals had operating margins of 0% aliases less.

One of nan hospitals connected nan lawmakers’ list, Knox Community Hospital, is presently searching for a buyer.

DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney said Ohio is still waiting for national guidance connected erstwhile nan money will get and really overmuch discretion nan authorities will person successful spending it. That includes whether they tin fulfill nan caucus’s request.

“What we don’t person is nan guidelines that will reply these nitty-gritty questions,” Tierney said.

Rep. Kellie Deeter, a Norwalk Republican and agrarian infirmary caucus co-chair, said those specifications are important.

“This announcement mostly reflects what was anticipated, but still not capable to offset nan broader national cuts, truthful [it] will not thief our agrarian hospitals,” Deeter said. “The attraction now should beryllium connected really these dollars are deployed to present real, sustainable improvements successful agrarian wellness care.”

As a statehouse newsman for Cleveland.com, I constitute astir each things Ohio authorities pinch a attraction connected elections, marijuana policy, societal issues, budgets, redistricting, nationalist pensions, migration successful Ohio and...