Connecticut is receiving a $154 million federal grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), an initiative designed to improve health outcomes, expand access to care, and strengthen the social and economic foundations of the state’s rural communities.
WFSB – Officials gathered at Generations Family Health Center to announce that Connecticut is receiving a $154 million federal grant aimed at expanding health care access for residents in rural and remote areas of the state.
Connecticut’s community health centers are urging state lawmakers to strengthen Medicaid enrollment systems, expand reimbursement for community health worker services and stabilize the health care workforce as federal policy changes under H.R. 1 are expected to reduce coverage for a significant number of residents.
In 2023, the state enacted legislation requiring Medicaid reimbursement for services provided by community health workers. Yet, more than two years later, Connecticut’s Medicaid program still does not cover these services.
Due to the SAMHSA grant cancellations, five health centers would’ve likely had to end their programs, which include a street outreach effort to treat unhoused individuals living with HIV.
Rising insurance costs and persistent economic hardship are reshaping local healthcare, Community Health and Wellness Center CEO Joanne Borduas said, describing the landscape as “shifting” at a town hall event Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Colonial Theatre.
Across Connecticut, residents who fear they or a loved one may be deported are self-isolating and facing mounting mental and physical health consequences as a result.
The Trump administration slashed then restored roughly $2 billion in mental health and addiction services grants between Tuesday and Wednesday evening, leaving Connecticut officials and advocates concerned and scrambling, then relieved and exhausted.
State lawmakers in Hartford are urging Gov. Ned Lamont to take immediate action when it comes to helping people who rely on food, healthcare and social programs funded by the federal government.
Connecticut will receive about $154 million in its first tranche of federal assistance to improve health care and access in rural parts of the state. The federal aid comes from the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion fund that will dole out money to all states over the next five years.
