Gov. Janet Mills (D), a candidate for the U.S. Senate, is trumpeting a $190 million federal health care award for Maine’s rural communities as her achievement even as the funding originates from a program authored and advanced in Washington by her general-election opponent U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Maine will receive more than $190 million in Fiscal Year 2026 through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion, five-year federal initiative designed to support rural hospitals, health care providers, and medical infrastructure nationwide.
“This award through the Rural Health Transformation Program is a testament to the strength of Maine’s application and the numerous partners who contributed their ideas and insights into a compelling proposal for strengthening health care in Maine’s rural communities. Maine will use this funding for new investments in rural health care providers, workers, and technologies to improve the health of people across our state.”
–Gov. Janet Mills statement
While the Mills administration submitted Maine’s application for the funding in November, the program itself was created through federal budget negotiations led by Collins, who has publicly stated she proposed the Rural Health Transformation Program as part of a broader effort to stabilize rural health care systems across the country.
Mills’ office said the application was supported by all four members of Maine’s congressional delegation, along with a broad coalition of health care providers, public health advocates, employers, higher education institutions, community health workers, tribal entities, emergency medical services, and health technology organizations.
The administration says the funding will be used to expand access to care, strengthen the rural health care workforce, and invest in technology aimed at improving health outcomes, particularly in Maine’s most remote communities.
Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes said the award will support long-term sustainability for rural health systems as the state works with federal officials to finalize its budget and implementation plan ahead of a 2026 rollout.
According to the administration, Maine’s application was developed through a public engagement process led by DHHS in coordination with the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, with an emphasis on input from rural communities.
The Rural Health Transformation Program was created under the federal budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, signed into law in July 2025. While the program provides one-time funding, the law also includes permanent reductions in federal health care spending. State officials have warned those cuts are expected to increase the number of uninsured residents and raise health care costs in rural states like Maine. The state estimates it could lose roughly $5 billion in health care funding over time under the law, far exceeding the one-time RHTP award.
Nationally, the program distributes $10 billion per year from fiscal year 2026 through 2030. Half of the funding is distributed evenly among all states, while the remainder is awarded to a smaller group of states with approved plans based on factors such as rural population size, the number of rural health facilities, and hospital financial conditions.
The funding announcement comes as Mills actively campaigns for the U.S. Senate and seeks to defeat Graham Platner in the Democratic primary. If successful, she would face Collins in the general election, setting up a race between the sitting governor and the senator whose legislative work laid the groundwork for the federal program now delivering the funds.
As part of the application process, CMS instructed states to plan for a hypothetical $200 million annual allocation. Maine will now revise its budget to reflect the $190 million award and proceed with federal officials on implementation.
For now, Mills is highlighting the funding as a win for rural Maine for which she is taking partial credit, even as the political reality underscores a central tension in the race ahead: the federal dollars she is touting were made possible by legislation championed by the senator she is running to unseat.
