[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S19]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Rural Healthcare

  Mr. GRASSLEY. On December 29, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services announced that my State of Iowa will receive over $209 million 
this year from the Rural Health Transformation Fund. This Federal 
funding will boost Iowa hospitals, Iowa clinics, Iowa nursing homes, 
Iowa legal centers, and other rural providers.
  I was proud to help craft the Working Families Tax Cut law that the 
President signed on July 4 last year. That law provides for the largest 
Federal investment in rural healthcare in history.
  Under Iowa's Governor Kim Reynolds' leadership, Iowa is positioned 
very well to use this historic investment to build a high-quality, 
sustainable system of care for Iowans across the State. My State of 
Iowa, under Governor Reynolds' leadership, plans to use this Federal 
investment toward telehealth, workforce, preventing and treating 
cancer, improving coordination of care, streamlining data sharing, and 
expanding emergency medical care. These investments will improve 
health, well-being, and quality of life not only in Iowa but in all of 
rural America.
  I am pleased that Iowa is maximizing this Federal investment in rural 
communities, not investing in bureaucracy. And to show how this 
investment is going to pay off without wasting money on administrative 
costs, Iowa's administrative costs for this Federal funding are 
projected to be less than 1 percent. Too often, you see Federal grants 
with administrative cost rates of 8 percent, 15 percent, and I have 
even seen, on more than one occasion, things as high as 60 percent. So 
I am glad Iowa is wisely using this Federal investment. And I look 
forward to seeing the result in rural Iowa.
  I yield the floor.