WV Rural Health Transformation funding authorization bill advances 

by Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch
March 11, 2026

The West Virginia House of Delegates Finance Committee has signed off on legislation allowing the state to spend nearly $200 million in federal funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program. 

Senate Bill 570 creates an appropriation for the Rural Health Transformation Program within the state Department of Health and grants spending authority for the approximately $199,000. The bill passed the Senate last month and had been pending in the House Finance Committee. 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey twice held news conferences urging lawmakers to hurry the funding authorization process along, most recently on Tuesday. 

“West Virginia has been given a historic opportunity to strengthen rural health care,” Morrisey said in a statement Tuesday. “We already have the funding and we already have the plan. What we need now is legislative authorization so we can put these resources to work for the people of West Virginia.”

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced late last year the state had been awarded approximately $199 million for 2026 through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a five year program that aims to “transform the existing rural health care infrastructure and build sustainable health care systems that expand access, enhance quality of care, and improve outcomes for patients,” according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Under Morrisey’s plan for the program, West Virginia rural schools, libraries and other community institutions would be outfitted for use in telemedicine. The state also plans to address the state’s health care worker shortage by recruiting high school students to health care careers, adding health care faculty at regional and technical colleges and using financial incentives to attract and keep providers in rural areas. 

Another of the initiatives, the Rural Health Link, would provide patients access to transportation to medical appointments using public buses, ride-share services and volunteer drivers.

Curtis Capehart, a representative for Morrisey’s office, told the Finance Committee the state has until Oct. 30 to obligate the money. If the obligated funds are not spent by the end of September 2027, the federal government will pull back any unspent money, he said.

Speaking in support of the bill, House Health Committee Chairman Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said the program would be historic for the state and he looks forward to seeing Morrisey sign it. 

“Two hundred million [dollars] in one year to transform health care in the state of West Virginia with the seven pillars, is phenomenal,” Worrell said. “We look forward to seeing how that’s going to actually shape our state… as we all know, we’re the worst in the country when it comes to a lot of these metrics and data points. So I look forward to seeing some of these change through, through this funding, through future funding.”

The bill will go to the full House of Delegates for a vote. 

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