Studies from University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Yield New Data on Managed Care (The Rural Health Transformation Program: trends in projected scores and actual awards): Managed Care

2026 JUN 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Recent legislation will substantially reduce Medicaid spending and coverage but also created a temporary Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), which may partially offset cuts. The extent to which the RHTP will attenuate rural health care cuts depends both on how the federal government allocates RHTP funds and how states spend the money received.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, “We reviewed RHTP scoring criteria and collected relevant publicly available data for each state. We calculated the number of points likely to be allocated for each measurable scored factor, analyzed funding actually awarded for fiscal year 2026 (FY2026), and evaluated associations with anticipated rural Medicaid funding losses and partisanship. The association between RHTP point allocations and estimated cuts was statistically significant, both overall and when subsetting to the rural facility and population score factors, which include statutorily mandated criteria. However, the measurable state policy- and data-driven factors-which primarily reflect state policy choices-are not significantly associated with expected rural funding cuts. Estimated scores and actual awards for FY2026 favored Republican-leaning states, even after conditioning on anticipated Medicaid cuts or rural population size.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Key design choices in RHTP legislation and implementation had important consequences for the distribution of funds.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The Rural Health Transformation Program: trends in projected scores and actual awards. Health Affairs Scholar, 2026;4(6).

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Michael Anne Kyle, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Additional authors for this research include Adrianna McIntyre and Rachel E. Sachs.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag055. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)