On May 30, 2025, President Trump released his FY 2026 President's Budget proposal which calls on Congress to eliminate bipartisan, fundamental, and longstanding rural health programs, such as the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility program, Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP), and State Offices of Rural Health.  

On July 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) FY 26 appropriations bill. NRHA supports the Senate’s bill and is pleased to see all core rural health programs funded at the same level as FY 2025 or higher. NRHA urges Congress to pass this legislation to support the health of rural communities nationwide.  

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY26 LHHS bill includes the following: 

• $66.27 million for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program (Flex) (FY 25: $64.277 million) 
• $13.5 million for the State Offices of Rural Health (FY 25: $12.5 million) 
• Funding the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program at $14 million (FY 25: $12.7 million) 
• Funding the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) at $145 million (FY 25: $145 million) 
• $6 million for the Rural Hospital Stabilization Pilot Program (FY 25: $4 million) 
• $103.975 million for the Rural Health Outreach Services programs (FY 25: $100.975 million) 
• $5 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Rural Health (FY 25: $5 million) 
• $47 million for Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) (FY 25: $47 million) 
• Investing in primary care through $1.8 billion for community health centers (FY 25: $4.26 billion) 
• $128.6 million for the National Health Service Corps to alleviate rural workforce shortages (FY 25: $345 million) 
• Several additional programs play a role in delivering care and strengthening rural health infrastructure. Changes to funding of these programs include:  
• $42.6 million for the Oral Health Training Programs (FY 25: $41 million) 
• $42 million for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (FY 25: $42 million) 
• $12.2 million for the Office of Pharmacy Affairs, which administers the 340B Drug Pricing Program (FY 25: $12.2 million) 
• $113 million for Behavioral Health Workforce Development (FY 25: $193 million) 
• $303.4 million for Nursing Workforce Development (FY 25: $305.4 million) 
• $385.5 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (FY 2025: $385.5 million) 

Please find our FY 2026 appropriations request table here. Additionally, NRHA has created a Rural Health Appropriations toolkit and an In District Toolkit to aid you in your advocacy, where you can find rural health talking points, a template letter to Members of Congress, instructions for meeting with your member at home, and an advocacy campaign how-to guide. We encourage you to advocate on behalf of these requests by using the pre-drafted text in the campaign. As always, feel free to add your voice to the pre-drafted text to ensure your elected officials understand the unique needs of your community!  
 

For state-specific information on rural health federal funding in your state, please see our 2024 Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Funding Data by State.