South Dakota senator targets rural health care gap with $50M initiative

Effort aims to improve access to telehealth and substance use services remote areas

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds is making another push to expand telehealth services across South Dakota, aiming to address the mental health needs of rural residents.

Rounds, has reintroduced the Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act of 2025, a bipartisan effort to improve access to mental health resources and substance use services in rural communities. The legislation would establish a grant program funding demonstration projects to provide mental health services to medically underserved individuals, including those in farming, fishing and forestry occupations.