WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration has committed $50 billion over five years to strengthen medical services in rural communities nationwide.
"We increased funding for rural health care by an unprecedented, record-setting $50 billion over five years, which will benefit Americans in all 50 states," Trump said at a roundtable discussion on rural health care at the White House.
Trump said the expanded funding was made possible by cutting what he described as “massive waste, fraud, and abuse” from Medicaid and reinvesting those savings into rural hospitals and communities.
"With the Rural Health Transformation Program, we are getting rural communities the health support they need, and we're getting it immediately," he said.
Trump said these funds will go to empowering rural hospitals, strengthening their workforce, and modernizing facilities and technology.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said the Rural Health Transformation fund is the "largest investment ever" in American history in rural communities.
"There are 60 million rural Americans, and these folks do not have access to the same care that's available in urban and suburban America," Oz said.