New York extends RCHI deadline and adds two more counties, Louisiana bets $30M that rural Medicaid’s problem is access, not overuse

Pennsylvania readies a big push, new opps in TN, MT, and ID

Jul 03, 2026

∙ Paid

State workers were busy prior to the holiday weekend. In this newsletter:

Legislation Watch: Appropriate New Jersey Appropriation
Louisiana adds slides from yesterday’s RHT webinar
Colorado Taps State Office of Rural Health to Coach RHTP Applicants
North Dakota offers School-Based and Hospital-Based Wellness Equipment opportunities
New York Buys Its RCHI Applicants Five More Days — and Two More Counties
Pennsylvania lines up FQHC & FQHC Look-Alikes - Modernizing Healthcare Technology and Enabling Interoperability opportunity
Tennessee publishes $60M Health Technology & Innovation (Long-Range)
Montana pushes Rural Physician/APP Recruitment, DLI-RFP-2026-0088DL
Idaho posts two more RHTP solicitations

Legislation Watch: Appropriate New Jersey Appropriation

New Jersey — A5327 (Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Act): appropriates $60,743,569,000 in State funds and authorizes $30,495,124,195 in federal funds — the vehicle through which New Jersey receives and spends its $147.3 million first-year Rural Health Transformation Program award, roughly $107 million administered by the Department of Health and $40 million by the Department of Human Services, including sub-grants and Rural Health Transformation-funded staff — signed by Governor Mikie Sherrill with a line-item veto on June 30, 2026 and enacted as P.L.2026, c.27. ROI-NJ, July 1, 2026

Louisiana adds slides from yesterday’s RHT webinar

Louisiana bets $30M that rural Medicaid’s problem is access, not overuse

At its July 2 monthly webinar, Louisiana’s Office of Rural Health Transformation and Sustainability (ORHTS) — which has now absorbed the old State Office of Rural Health — walked providers through the centerpiece of its Innovative Care strategy: a roughly $30 million Year 1 Notice of Funding Opportunity for a rural Medicaid Alternative Payment Model. Written questions are due July 7, applications August 7.

What makes the NOFO notable is the analysis underneath it. Working from a Milliman review of SFY25 Medicaid claims, LDH found rural parishes run about 5% higher per-member-per-year cost than urban ones ($5,730 vs. $5,469) while posting lower inpatient admissions and 14- and 30-day readmissions — a pattern the state reads as a physical-access problem, not an overutilization one. Cardiovascular and psychiatric conditions, at ~20% and ~27% prevalence, drive the bulk of rural chronic spend. The model’s answer is a primary-care-led, provider-owned APM funded through three buckets: one-time practice-transformation payments, ILOS-style clinical activities Medicaid won’t otherwise reimburse, and quality/total-cost-of-care incentives.

Eligibility is pointed: funding flows to Medicaid-enrolled provider entities — ACOs, clinically integrated networks, FQHCs/RHCs, and rural hospital-led partnerships — with the state explicit that vendors (it names Equality Health and Azara as examples) can support implementation but aren’t the default recipients. LDH also framed the effort as complementary to, not overlapping with, its existing Managed Care Incentive Payment and value-based-payment withhold programs.

The APM sits inside an unusually dense procurement window. Louisiana — a top-five national award at $208.4M in Year 1 and roughly $1.4B over the grant — now has NOFOs live for Telehealth Infrastructure and Capital Improvement (both due July 10), Collaborative Provider Models (Aug 5), and Food is Medicine and Regional Care Conveners (both Aug 14). Next up for vendors: a July 7 Virtual Vendor Showcase on APMs, co-hosted with the Louisiana Rural Health Association. The next monthly webinar is August 6.

Colorado Taps State Office of Rural Health to Coach RHTP Applicants

Per email.

Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) has awarded the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) — the state’s federally designated State Office of Rural Health — a contract to provide free training and technical assistance to organizations applying for Rural Health Transformation Program funding. The support spans the full application arc: navigating the process, drafting SMART goals, reviewing project workplans, and building realistic budgets, delivered through one-on-one consultations, webinars, office hours, and written guidance. Awardees keep access to CRHC through implementation for help with programmatic and financial reporting, compliance, and workforce development. Prospective applicants can reach the CRHC team at CRHC_RHTP@coruralhealth.org.

HCPF also released a new fact sheet clarifying that, consistent with Colorado Fiscal Rule 3-1, reimbursement remains the default payment method — grantees are generally paid after documenting eligible expenses. Advance payments are available only by case-by-case request, weighed against organizational capacity, financial need, and project risk; applicants must show that reimbursement would genuinely block implementation. A revised Work Plan Template (appendix-only changes) is also now posted.

With applications due August 3, the state’s calendar is dense: a “How to Fill Out the Budget and Scope of Work” webinar on July 8 (2:30–4 p.m.), RFA office hours on July 7, 14, and 16, and an RHTP Advisory Committee meeting on July 27. Colorado’s total RHTP award stands at $200,105,604.17, fully funded by CMS.

North Dakota offers School-Based and Hospital-Based Wellness Equipment opportunities

School-Based Wellness Equipment

Learn more about the School-Based Wellness Equipment funding opportunity. To make the application process easier, the PDF includes the questions applicants must complete when applying for the funding opportunity using Qualtrics. These questions are located in the Application Requirements section. Deadline to apply: July 30, 2026 at 5 p.m. CT

Technical Assistance Call video

Hospital-Based Wellness Equipment

Learn more about the Hospital-Based Wellness Equipment funding opportunity. To make the application process easier, the PDF includes the questions applicants must complete when applying for the funding opportunity using Qualtrics. These questions are located in the Application Requirements section. Deadline to apply: July 30, 2026 at 5 p.m. CT