Virginia get $189 million in Fed Grants for Rural Healthcare

In late December 2025, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded Virginia $189.5 million in grant funds through the Rural Health Transformation Fund. The State plans to use the money to address rural health care access challenges and persistent health care disparities across the state. Possible fund usage includes updating outdated technology, addressing provider shortages and long travel times to care, and combatting high rates of chronic disease. Virginia plans to allocate about $49 million of the funds to establish a centralized program management office to oversee grant administration, track data, and evaluate progress. Virginia's multi-million grant falls short of the Governor's $1 billion request. The grant comes from a $50 billion fund made available to the states in $10 billion increments over the next 5 years.

Sixty percent of the localities in Virginia are rural. These residents often face lengthy travel times for preventive or emergency care, limited access to specialists, and heavily rely upon Medicaid at a time when many face losing Medicaid coverage.