Meuser, Bresnahan announce $193M for PA rural health from Working Families Tax Credit

WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Rep Dan Meuser said this week that Pennsylvania will receive $193 million this year through the Rural Transformation Fund — an investment that he says will expand access to care and strengthen workforce training across the Commonwealth.

Meuser, R-Dallas, said he strongly advocated for and voted in favor of the Working Families Tax Cut package, which created the fund that he said will transform health care across rural Pennsylvania.

“My Republican colleagues and I supported the creation of this fund to confront the growing healthcare challenges facing rural communities across the United States,” Meuser said. “It’s unfortunate that every single Democrat in Congress, including every Democrat from Pennsylvania, voted against creating this fund. In recent years, rural Pennsylvanians have experienced a steady decline in access to essential healthcare services, and this funding is a critical step toward reversing that trend.”

U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr., R-Dallas Township, applauded the announcement, stating he also strongly advocated for and worked to include the fund as a central component of the Working Families Tax Cuts package.

“This $193 million investment is a major win for Pennsylvania’s rural communities,” said Bresnahan. “From the start, I pushed to guarantee the Rural Health Transformation Fund was included because I knew how critical these resources would be for our hospital providers and patients. This funding will make a real difference for families across the Commonwealth.”

Last month, Rep. Bresnahan hosted Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz in Scranton for a health care roundtable with hospital executives, providers, and community leaders from Northeastern Pennsylvania.

During the visit, participants discussed workforce shortages, access to care, challenges, and the financial pressures facing rural and community hospitals.

“When Administrator Oz came to Northeastern Pennsylvania, he heard directly from the people on the front lines of our healthcare system,” continued Bresnahan. “Those conversations helped reinforce why this fund must be prioritized, and why Pennsylvania deserves strong federal support.”

An Associated Press story that ran in the Times Leader earlier this week reported that federal officials announced states will share $10 billion for rural health care next year in the program that aims to offset the Trump administration’s massive budget cuts to rural hospitals.

But while every state applied for money from the Rural Health Transformation Program, the AP story said it won’t be distributed equally, and critics worry that the funding might be pulled back if a state’s policies don’t match up with the administration’s.

Officials said the average award for 2026 is $200 million, and the fund puts a total of $50 billion into rural health programs over five years, the AP story reported. States propose how to spend their awards, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services assigns project officers to support each state, said Oz.

Bresnahan emphasized that while this funding represents an important step, his work is far from finished.

“I remain committed to continuing to fight for Pennsylvania, so we secure even more resources in the future,” continued Bresnahan. “Our rural communities deserve long-term solutions, and I will keep working to make sure Pennsylvania gets its fair share.”