South Dakota awarded $189M to improve rural health care

Funding coming from Congress through One Big Beautiful Bill

South Dakota will receive $189.4 million in federal funding for rural health care in fiscal year 2026, an amount nearly double what the state could have received.

The money comes from $50 billion approved in July by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Congress allocated the money to help shore up rural health care amid concerns that tightening Medicaid eligibility among working-age adults would harm rural health providers who rely on the program.

The $50 billion in the Rural Health Transformation Program will be distributed in lump sums over the next five years. The $189.4 million is for fiscal year 2026, which started on July 1.