Overview
- Arkansas filed its application seeking $1 billion, structured as $200 million per year over five fiscal years, though the final award could differ.
- The proposal packages four initiatives—THRIVE, PACT, RISE AR and HEART—with THRIVE requesting $350 million, HEART $150 million and the others $250 million each to expand telehealth, workforce, care coordination and preventive health.
- Governors in North Dakota, Missouri and Mississippi also announced submissions by the Nov. 5 deadline.
- The Rural Health Transformation Program totals $50 billion over five years starting in 2026, with half distributed equally to approved states and half allocated based on rural population and facility metrics.
- CMS will notify awardees by Dec. 31, 2025, with five-year cooperative agreements and monitoring to follow, and Arkansas officials expect disbursement to begin in early 2026 as analysts question whether the funds will offset projected $155 billion Medicaid cuts.