The Honorable Dr. Mehmet Oz
CMS Administrator
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Administrator Oz,
We submit this letter in strong support of Washington State’s application for funding under the CMS Rural Health Transformation (RHT) initiative [CMS-RHT-26-001] and urge your approval of the maximum amount of allowable funding.
We endeavor to ensure that rural Washington remains a place where residents want to live, return to, grow their families, and thrive. Washington’s rural communities, including our 29 federally recognized Tribes, are critical to the economic vitality of our state and our region. Reliable and quality health care access, facilitated by a strong delivery system, community partnerships, and robust preventive care, is necessary to fulfill this vision.
The Washington Legislature has made significant investments in our rural delivery system over the past decade, which has included piloting new grow-your-own health care training programs, supporting loan forgiveness for providers committed to working in health professional shortage areas, and providing operating and capital funding to rural hospitals in financial distress. The state has complemented financial investment with statutory direction to grow our peer, community health worker and doula workforce, participate in numerous interstate provider licensure compacts, and has expanded insurance reimbursement for telehealth services that are critical to rural specialty care access. These measures, and many others like them, show Washington’s long-standing commitment to creatively supporting our rural populations. However, additional support is critical to transforming and sustaining our rural delivery system.
We appreciate the unique opportunity RHT funding provides to grow our rural workforce, support prevention and disease management, invest in technological advances, and transform Washington’s rural delivery system. We hope that CMS will find Washington’s six proposed RHT initiatives in alignment with the vision for this funding:
1. Igniting innovation in Washington’s rural hospitals
2. Preventing disease and managing care in community settings
3. Investing in the health of Native families
4. Adopting technology and data solutions to enable health improvements
5. Developing Washington’s rural workforce to support rural communities
6. Expanding and sustaining our rural behavioral health system
Should Washington’s application for RHT funding be approved, we will look forward to supporting Governor Ferguson and the Washington State Health Care Authority’s work with CMS to advance the care and well-being of rural Washingtonians.
Respectfully,
Laurie Jinkins
Speaker of the House
Drew Stokesbary
House Minority Leader
Jamie Pedersen
Senate Majority Leader
John Braun
Senate Minority Leader