Earlier this year, the Trump Administration released its proposed FY2026 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It proposed the elimination of several critical rural health programs, including the State Offices of Rural Health, Rural Hospital Flexibility Grants, and various workforce programs– Primary Care Training and Enhancement, Nurse Education, Practice, and Retention, and many others.

Thanks in part to NARHC member advocacy efforts, these programs were not eliminated, and fully funded in the Senate Appropriations Committee's recent passage of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (L-HHS) appropriations bill. 

The House of Representatives will need to pass their appropriations bills when they return in September. Please continue messaging your legislators here to ensure these vital rural health programs remain funded in FY2026.