The Trump administration’s recently announced $193.7 million in rural healthcare funding across Florida is under scrutiny after reports claim the state will lose an estimated $14 billion in Medicaid funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Healthcare non-profit Protect Our Care accused the White House of misleading Floridians through its recent announcement of more than $193 million in Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding.
“Republicans are trying to put a band-aid on a bullet hole after they were the ones to pull the trigger,” Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse said. “This is another publicity stunt meant to distract working families from the health crisis Trump and Republicans in Congress knowingly created."
CMS Announces Nearly $200 Million RHTP Funding For Florida
On Oct. 23, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the nearly $200 million investment to expand telehealth, mobile health, and community paramedicine care across the state.
According to CMS, the effort “was made possible through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act,” which delivered “a historic $50 billion investment to help states transform the way healthcare is delivered in America.”
The RHTP
Under the OBBBA, or the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, the RHTP was established.
The program provides approved states with $50 billion over five years, with $10 billion in available funding annually.
“Through innovative system-wide change, the RHT program invests in rural healthcare delivery ecosystem for future generations,” according to Medicaid's site.
OBBA's Medicaid Cuts
However, a KFF analysis reveals Florida is expected to lose between $10 and $17 billion in Medicaid funding over the next 10 years under the same legislation.
“This so-called ‘investment’ is a drop in the bucket compared to the over $13.5 billion Floridians are expected to lose in Medicaid funding over the next decade,” Woodhouse said. “And that doesn’t even include the funds that clinics and nursing homes are expected to lose.”
