Congress funds rural specialty care pilot—but only if CMS gets the money

What it does

This bill directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to test a new model delivering specialty healthcare services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in rural and underserved areas using telehealth and remote technologies. The model will partner with networks of at least 50 rural health centers, clinics, and hospitals (at least half in rural areas) to coordinate specialty care with primary care providers, aiming to improve access for patients who currently face geographic or transportation barriers.

Why we flagged it

The bill establishes a time-limited innovation model testing telehealth-based specialty care delivery in rural areas, consistent with CMS's statutory mandate to test new payment and service delivery models under Section 1115A of the Social Security Act.

What the text implies

• The bill's success depends entirely on appropriations; no dedicated funding is specified, meaning the pilot may never launch or may be underfunded relative to need.
• The requirement that provider networks be nonprofit entities under IRC 501(c)(3) excludes for-profit telehealth platforms and specialty care networks, potentially limiting innovation but protecting against profit extraction.
• The model's reliance on 'coordination with primary care providers' assumes robust primary care infrastructure in rural areas; where that infrastructure is weak, the model may underperform.
• Data collection and exchange requirements may create interoperability challenges across fragmented rural health IT systems, potentially delaying implementation.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands access to specialty care for rural and underserved Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries through a pilot program using telehealth, removing geographic barriers to care. The model is structured as a time-limited test with explicit requirements for rural participation and nonprofit provider networks, reducing risk of private capture.

Who stands to gain

• Rural health centers and critical access hospitals (service delivery contracts)
• Federally qualified health centers (FQHC) networks (service delivery contracts)
• Nonprofit telehealth and health IT vendors (potential service contracts)

Named in the bill

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics, Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Emergency Hospitals, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Medicare Part A, Part B, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Where it stands

22 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 9 Democrats.

• Apr 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 1, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $200,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Jodey Arrington, the sponsor, reported $573,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Alliance for Connected Care — $200,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.