Washington awarded $181 million from federal rural health fund from ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

The federal allocation to Washington for rural health care appears to have been trimmed because it has not implemented some of President Donald Trump’s goals.

Washington was awarded $181 million by the federal government’s Rural Health Transformation Program – under the $200 million average given to other states.

Aiming to replace lost Medicaid funding in the coming years, the rural health fund was part of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act that Congress passed earlier this year.

The $50 billion fund will distribute on average $200 million dollars to each state beginning next year. Funding was based on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid formula that considered rural population size and whether the state is implementing health priorities of the Trump administration, such as banning the use of SNAP benefits for certain unhealthy foods.

According to Washington’s application, the state has restricted SNAP benefits from being used for tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and food or drinks with controlled substances. But the federal government has pushed states to restrict SNAP benefits from junk food like soda and candy, which Washington has not done.

“More than 60 million Americans living in rural areas have the right to equal access to quality care,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement. “This historic investment puts local hospitals, clinics, and health workers in control of their communities’ healthcare. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, rural Americans will now have affordable healthcare close to home, free from bureaucratic obstacles.”

But critics of the plan argue that the funds will not be enough to replace losses to Medicaid approved in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Based on Congressional Budget Office analysis, rural Medicaid spending would be cut by $137 billion over the next 10 years, meaning the $50 billion fund would cover 36% of the anticipated losses.

Despite being the 13th most populous state in the nation, Washington will receive the 10th least amount of money of all states. Though Washington has high population centers like Seattle, the state also has a large rural population. According to the state Health Care Authority, approximately 1.1 million Washington state residents live in rural counties, which makes up 14% of the state’s population.

Many other states were awarded more funds despite their total population being lower than the population of Washington state’s rural residents. Despite fewer than 1 million residents in total, Alaska received the second-greatest amount of funds at $272 million. Idaho and Washington will receive comparable funds, but only 541,612 Idaho residents live in rural counties, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Idaho and Montana were awarded $186 million and $233 million, respectfully.

As part of their application for the funds, Washington state submitted a $200 million plan on how it will spend that money. Here’s how Washington would have spent the money on rural health had the state been awarded the full amount.

• $61 million hospital infrastructure funding.
• $35 million to recruit and train health care providers .
• $26 million to improve telehealth and home care worker services.
• $24 million to expand behavioral health resources .
• $22 million to improve health care technology .
• $20 million to support tribal hospitals and health care in Native communities.
• $12 million to improve maternal health services .

The Washington Health Care Authority, which submitted the state’s CMS application, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday on how the state would decrease these expenditures to match the $181 million award.