The program will distribute $50 billion to states between fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2030, with $10 billion released each year. That represents roughly a 50% increase in federal spending on rural healthcare, which currently totals about $19 billion per year through Medicaid. To qualify for funding, states must submit a detailed plan outlining how they intend to use the money to improve rural healthcare.
The expansion of these programs was spurred by the pandemic, during which clinicians devised creative solutions when in-person care wasn't possible, she explained. For example, she recalled when acupuncture sessions shifted online during the pandemic. A VA physician quickly pivoted to holding virtual appointments teaching veterans "acu-touch" techniques they could use at home to relieve pain. This shows that innovation involves more than just technology, Clancy noted. It's about changing care delivery methods to meet patients where they are.
My 77-year-old mother wanted sympathy, the kind Mark believed was for the weak: offers of a cup of a tea, a hug. Long ago, decades even, she had learned not to seek it from him. With him, she was a trooper. At 62 she had retired and followed him up to a high desert mountain, 6,500ft (1,981 metres) in north-east California.
He mentioned several areas where AI is already demonstrating promise in healthcare. On the research side of things, Griffith noted that AI can accelerate drug discovery and speed up clinical trial recruitment, which could help patients gain access to new therapies more quickly. As for administrative use cases, he highlighted tools that allow for more accurate claims processing for payers and reduce the paperwork burden on clinicians.
"It certainly is challenging to expose medical students early in their careers to the joys of this kind of integrated healthcare," Reddy said. "The relationships we build and the care we provide truly allow people to live longer with a better quality of life."
