INSIGHTS
September 22, 2025

Need meets opportunity for rural communities

Last week, state governments landed a whopping $50B opportunity. CMS opened up a one-time application to the Rural Health Transformation Program, created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year. States have until November 5 to outline how they’ll use the money to improve rural health infrastructure and access, and how that investment will have an impact lasting beyond 2030. The opportunity is big, but so is the paradox. The communities with the greatest need often have the least capacity to develop competitive proposals and CMS has yet to clearly define what success will look like.

Partners that integrate with state strategies to advance rural care infrastructure and delivery have the opportunity to improve outcomes for the communities who need it most (and expand market share while they're at it). Digital health companies are already building in rural care, and showing how their solutions deliver on cost and quality could be the key to unlocking durable public partnerships. At our upcoming Rock Health Summit, we’ll unpack how state governments, community organizations, and innovators are co-designing better care. We're nearly sold out—grab your spot today.

Headlines

 In A First, FDA Calls Out Telehealth Companies For GLP-1 Ads
Increased enforcement of drug ad rules leads to warnings for telehealth companies Endpoints News

Medicare Prior Authorization Pilot Raises Concerns Among Providers
WISeR model seeks to cut costs with AI-powered prior auth denials of "low value” care Healthcare Dive

Amazon Ropes In Fay To Offer Dietitian Services On Telehealth Platform
First nutrition care provider makes it onto Amazon's Health Benefits Connector Reuters

The Billion-Dollar Rivalry Over 'ChatGPT For Doctors'
Dueling lawsuits between OpenEvidence and Doximity may set new AI trade secret precedents Business Insider

 Whoop Is Bringing Clinical Blood Testing To Its App
Quest Diagnostics deal marks the latest move in wearable diagnostics evolution Lifehacker

 Innovaccer Acquires Story Health To Expand Its Specialty Care Offerings   
Story Health's virtual specialty care model to gain scale, agentic AI, and EHR integration Fierce Healthcare
 

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