Population Health
Brings preventive, primary, behavioral health and chronic disease care closer to home through school-based health centers, community paramedicine, community health workers and evidence-based practices.
RHTP state profile · Maine
Maine Rural Health Transformation Program
Maine received $190.0 million in Year 1 of the $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program, 36th of 50 states. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) runs the program, which funds five initiatives across Maine's 12 fully rural counties and the rural parts of its other four, from community health workers and telehealth to rural hospital stability.
Year 1 awards, all 50 statesME: $190.0M
Texas $281.3MNew Jersey $147.3M
$190.0MYear 1 award, 36th of 50
5Funded initiatives
12 / 16Maine counties are fully rural
DHHSMaine Department of Health and Human Services
Spending data in the RHTP Year One Report covers December 29, 2025 to July 31, 2026, the latest CMS reporting window.
At a glance
Maine's program at a glance
The award is fixed for the year. Spending moves every quarter, so Maine's section of the RHTP Year One Report tracks how much was put to work, and with whom, through July 31, 2026. It updates after each CMS data release.
Year 1 award$190,008,051, 36th of 50 states
Run byMaine Department of Health and Human Services
Budget Period 1December 29, 2025 to October 30, 2026
Initiatives5
Fully rural counties12 of 16
Spending data through July 31, 2026Maine's section of the Year One Report →Initiatives
What does Maine's RHTP fund?
Maine's RHTP funds five initiatives covering population health, workforce, technology, access and the long-term stability of rural providers. Each initiative includes several activities, and every Maine funding opportunity maps to one of them.
Workforce
Recruits, trains and keeps rural health workers through career pathways, clinical training sites, mobile training labs and a workforce data dashboard.
Technology and Innovation
Expands telehealth and remote monitoring, modernizes electronic medical records, improves health data exchange and helps rural providers adopt AI through a Maine Rural AI Hub.
Access
Lowers barriers to care such as transportation, simplifies MaineCare provider enrollment and improves the price transparency tool for health plans.
Sustainable Rural Health Ecosystems
Strengthens rural hospital finances, regional planning, alternative payment models and interfacility transport so services last after RHTP funding ends.
Recipients by initiative are in Maine's section of the RHTP Year One Report.
Source documents
Maine's full plan is public
The approved plan has more detail than any summary: goals, partners, metrics and timelines for each initiative. Read it before responding to a Maine solicitation.
PDFDHHSMaine RHTP Project Narrative, Year 2DHHS's updated plan for the second budget period, posted August 2026.PDFDHHSMaine RHTP Project Narrative, Year 1The full Year 1 plan from DHHS, updated March 2026, including all five initiatives.PDFCMSCMS 50-State SpotlightsCMS's short profile of each state's program, including Maine's.PDFCMSCMS State Project AbstractsEach state's own summary, side by side.
Fully rural county (12)Partly rural county (4)
Eligibility
Which Maine counties are eligible for RHTP funding?
Providers in all 12 of Maine's fully rural counties are eligible: Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo and Washington. In the four partly rural counties, Androscoggin, Cumberland, Penobscot and York, providers qualify if they sit in a rural census tract or are rural providers such as Critical Access Hospitals and FQHCs. Maine uses the federal Office of Rural Health Policy definition, and more than 690,000 Mainers live in rural areas.
View Maine's RHTP eligibility guidance →How to apply
How can Maine providers apply for RHTP funding?
Maine providers and vendors apply through grants, subawards and contracts from DHHS and its partners. MCD Global Health runs the technology and telehealth opportunities, and state RFPs post in the State of Maine Vendor Self Service system. As of November 5, 2026, four digital health grants are open, closing November 6 and November 9, 2026. Providers and vendors don't apply to CMS directly.
- Match the work to an initiative.Funding only goes to work that fits one of the five.
- Check the open rounds.MCD posts telehealth, remote monitoring, teledentistry and AI opportunities on its Maine RHTP page, and DHHS lists other funding on its RHTP page.
- Register as a vendor.State RFPs post only in the Vendor Self Service system. SAM.gov registration is standard for federally funded grants and contracts.
- Plan for federal rules.Grant recipients follow federal grant, reporting and audit rules. A Single Audit applies at $1 million or more in federal spending a year.
- Ask DHHS directly.Email lisa.letourneau@maine.gov, or rhtp-dh@mcd.org for digital health questions.
Federal terms
Four rules that shape every award
Federal terms follow the money down to every Maine recipient.
Grants and contracts carry different obligations
A subaward makes your organization a subrecipient that carries out part of the program, with federal reporting and audit requirements. A contract pays for goods or services, with lighter requirements.
New rounds follow CMS budget approval
States can't post funding opportunities until CMS approves their budget, so windows can open months into a budget period.
Workforce incentives need a rural commitment
Recruitment and retention payments require clinicians to commit to serving rural communities for at least five years.
Recipients must disclose the federal funding
Under the Stevens Amendment, websites, social posts and other public materials about a funded project must name the federal funding.
Allowable costs
What can Maine's RHTP funding pay for?
Maine's RHTP funding can pay for work on existing facilities, uncovered care, technology and administration, within federal caps on each use. Applied to Maine's Year 1 award, the maximums are:
Capital and infrastructure20% of award
About $38.0M
Provider payments15% of award
About $28.5M
Administrative costs10% of award
About $19.0M
Rural Tech Catalyst Fund10% or $20M, whichever is less
About $19.0M
Replacing an existing EMR system5% of award
About $9.5M
Provider payments and capital
Provider payments cover services insurance doesn't pay for, quality bonuses and outcome-based payments tied to Maine's plan. They can't raise rates for services providers already bill.
Capital funds go to existing facilities: renovations, accessibility upgrades, HVAC and like-for-like equipment replacement.
Off limits
- New construction, demolition and major expansions
- Cosmetic work such as painting, carpet or decor
- Clinician salaries at facilities that use non-compete clauses
- Home broadband installation and service
- Costs already covered by other federal or state funding
Policy commitments
Maine's program commitments
Maine made no state policy commitments in its application, according to CMS, so none of its funding depends on new laws or rules. Its plan does make four program commitments. One is done.
RHTP Advisory Committee
Convene an external committee of rural hospitals, FQHCs, Tribal health centers, EMS and other partners to advise the program
Meetings held July, August and September 2026Year 1 spending
Grant recipients use their Year 1 funds
Value-based payment
Tie 60% of MaineCare payments to alternative payment models
57% at the time of the applicationRural hospital finances
Bring at least 75% of rural hospitals to operating margins that support ongoing investment
Rural Hospital Efficiency Fund runs September 2026 to August 2027Maine already belongs to the physician, nurse, psychology and physician assistant licensure compacts, but not the EMS compact.
Years 2 to 5
$40B
Future awards depend on progress
Year 1 is not a guaranteed annual amount. CMS plans up to $40 billion more nationwide through 2030 and rescores every state each year on progress, data and policy actions.
Unobligated money leaves the state
Funds not obligated by the end of a budget period can't be obligated later and are redistributed to other states.
Funds can be clawed back
CMS can withhold, reduce or recover money for unallowable costs, unapproved plan changes or missed policy commitments. States get 90 days to fix a violation, and most decisions can't be appealed.
Oversight is growing
CMS's Office of Rural Health Transformation plans site visits in all 50 states in 2026. Audits start in 2027.
Method
Reading Maine's spending data
Use the numbers in Maine's section of the RHTP Year One Report to understand direction and pace, not as an audit.
Put to work is not paid out
Obligated money is signed to a contract or grant. Cash reaches recipients later.
Through July 31, 2026 only
The data covers December 29, 2025 to July 31, 2026, as Maine reported it to CMS. Commitments made after July 31, 2026 are not counted yet.
Recipients sit inside line items
The CMS report has no recipient column. Search Maine's line item descriptions by name.
Quarterly refresh
CMS updates the data after each quarterly state report, starting with the November 30, 2026 filing.
Announcements
Major Maine announcements
Penobscot Community Health Care, the state's largest health center, receives $2.8 million to move to a new electronic medical record system and alternative payment models.
Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft receives nearly $5 million to upgrade its electronic medical record system.
MCD Global Health and DHHS announce a series of Year 1 digital health and telehealth funding opportunities.
DHHS announces a $30 million Rural Hospital Efficiency Fund for 11 rural hospitals and a $12 million partnership with the University of New England for community health workers and evidence-based practices.
DHHS announces about $30 million to help rural providers modernize electronic medical record systems.
CMS awards Maine $190.0 million for Year 1.
Awards announced after July 31, 2026 are not in the CMS spending data yet. They will appear after the next CMS refresh.
Timeline
Key dates
- Dec 29, 2025Year 1 award; Budget Period 1 begins
- Jul 31, 2026End of the first CMS reporting window; Year One Report spending data runs through this date
- Aug 14, 2026EMR modernization applications close
- Oct 30, 2026Budget Period 1 ends
- Nov 9, 2026Last open digital health grant deadlines
- Nov 30, 2026Quarterly reports due; CMS refreshes funding data
- Jan 2027Rural Hospital Efficiency Fund sustainability plans due
- Aug 2027Rural Hospital Efficiency Fund projects completed
- Sep 30, 2027Deadline to use Year 1 funds
- 2030Final year of the five-year program
Implications
What this means
For rural hospitals
Eleven rural hospitals are in the $30 million Rural Hospital Efficiency Fund, which pairs technical assistance with funding for approved projects, and sustainability plans are due by January 2027. EMR upgrades have been the largest early hospital awards. Watch for Year 2 rounds tied to regional planning and alternative payment models.
For partners and vendors
Maine routes much of its money through partners. MCD Global Health runs the technology work and buys telehealth, remote monitoring, teledentistry and texting services through its RHTP Portal, and the University of New England will solicit evidence-based practice proposals. State RFPs post only in Vendor Self Service.
For applicants and grantees
Build tracking for the measures Maine reports to CMS, such as blood pressure control, readmissions and hospital margins, before an award lands. Subrecipients can't opt out of reporting, and their results feed Maine's annual rescoring. Year 1 funds must be used by September 30, 2027.
FAQ
Maine RHTP FAQs
Who runs Maine's Rural Health Transformation Program?
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) runs Maine's Rural Health Transformation Program, using federal funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). DHHS manages the state's plan and works with partners such as MCD Global Health and the University of New England to post funding opportunities. The program is Maine's share of the $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program.
How much RHTP funding did Maine receive?
Maine received $190,008,051 for Year 1 of the Rural Health Transformation Program, 36th of 50 states. Every state got $100 million in baseline funding, and the rest of Maine's award was based on its rural needs, its policy commitments and the strength of its plan. Later years depend on Maine's progress.
Can Maine RHTP funding pay for construction?
No. RHTP funds can't pay for new construction, demolition or major expansions. Up to 20% of Maine's award each year, about $38.0 million in Year 1, can go to work on existing facilities, such as renovations, accessibility upgrades, HVAC replacement and like-for-like equipment replacement.
Can Maine providers use RHTP funding to pay for patient care?
Only for care that insurance doesn't already pay for. Provider payments can cover nonreimbursed services, quality bonuses and outcome-based payments tied to Maine's plan, up to 15% of the award each year, about $28.5 million in Year 1. They can't raise rates for services providers already bill.
Where can I see how Maine is spending its RHTP funding?
The RHTP Year One Report tracks how much of Maine's award was put to work through July 31, 2026, by initiative and recipient, using state-reported data from CMS, and is updated after each CMS data release. Awards announced after July 31, such as $2.8 million in October 2026 for Penobscot Community Health Care, will appear after the next CMS refresh.
The Alliance
RHT Alliance members serving Maine
These RHT Alliance members serve Maine providers, with support that spans virtual nursing, virtual care, virtual dental care, remote monitoring, health data, diagnostics, patient education and grant writing.
Azalea HealthCloud EHR and billing with AI-assisted charting for rural hospitals and clinics.
CorstrataTelehealth access to board-certified wound, ostomy and continence nurses.
Equum MedicalTelehealth-enabled physician coverage across specialties.
Health Recovery SolutionsRemote patient monitoring and care management at home.
InterSystemsHealth data platforms and interoperability.
Medical Equipment SourceDigital pathology, mobile labs and lab equipment services.
Rural Health Transformation Funding NetworkGrant writing support for RHTP funding opportunities.
Self Care DecisionsEvidence-based triage that directs patients to the right level of care.
Solid StartsInfant feeding guidance and education for families, built by pediatric feeding specialists.
Teledentistry.com24/7 virtual dental evaluations and emergency triage.
VitalChatVirtual nursing and continuous audio and video care across hospitals.
WebMD IgniteMedically reviewed patient education and outreach, including its HEART rural program.Follow Maine's money as it moves
The RHTP Year One Report tracks obligations, initiatives and recipients for all 50 states after each CMS data release.