Speaker Mike Johnson has issued a statement in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement regarding the Rural Health Transformation Program awardees for Fiscal Year 2026. The program aims to improve access to affordable, quality health care for over 61 million Americans living in rural areas. It was established by the Working Families Tax Cut legislation and begins implementation this week.
According to Speaker Johnson, “This week, Republicans are following through on our commitment to expand access to affordable, quality health care for patients living in rural America by awarding $50 billion spread across all 50 states that have long faced challenges delivering care. This is made possible by the Rural Health Transformation Program — created in the Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts bill— which represents the largest investment in a generation to improve health care across rural America over the next five years. This program was designed for patients in rural communities to help expand access, support rural providers, develop a skilled workforce, drive innovation, and improve health outcomes. Together, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are working hard and delivering affordable, quality, and dependable health care to hardworking families in across America.”
The Rural Health Transformation Program provides $50 billion over five years with goals that include expanding new access points for rural patients, attracting and retaining skilled healthcare workers in these regions, promoting innovative models of care coordination, investing in technology and infrastructure improvements such as digital tools and facilities, and supporting preventive health measures.
Mike Johnson has represented Louisiana’s 4th district since 2017 after succeeding John Fleming. He previously served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. Johnson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1972 and currently resides in Benton. He graduated from Louisiana State University with both a BA (1995) and JD (1998).
For more details about Mike Johnson’s background representing Louisiana’s 4th district since 2017: https://johnson.house.gov/about/
Information on his education at Louisiana State University can be found here: https://johnson.house.gov/about/
