U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. showed support for "Make America Healthy Again"-inspired bills passed by Texas legislators during a visit to the state this week. He said those bills could help Texas secure federal funding set aside for rural hospitals in President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
Kennedy joined Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday for the signing of several pieces of legislation — including Senate Bill 25, or the "Make Texas Healthy Again" Act, which requires warning labels for food products that include certain dyes and additives. The governor also signed Senate Bill 314, which restricts certain ingredients in free-and-reduced school lunch programs, and Senate Bill 379, which blocks SNAP recipients from using benefits to purchase sugary drinks and candy.
"Texas has chosen a bold new course for public health — one I urge other states to follow," Kennedy said in a press release following the event.
Kennedy capped off his visit to Texas on Thursday with a roundtable hosted by Abbott that included rural health leaders to discuss how Texans could leverage funding from the $50-billion Rural Health Transformation Program. That program was added to the One Big Beautiful Bill in response to concerns that some of its provisions could be detrimental to rural hospitals. Although some critics, including the National Rural Health Association, have said the Rural Transformation Program will not provide enough funding to offset major cuts to Medicaid and changes to how states can be reimbursed for Medicaid payments.
The first $25 billion in that pot will be distributed evenly among states, Kennedy said. But the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will decide how to distribute the remaining $25 billion based on an application process that will open soon.
"Part of the score is going to be how well the state has done at adopting MAHA legislation, and Texas leads the country," Kennedy said. "So I think they're going to do very, very well in their application."
Funding decisions will be made by December, he said, with funds disbursed in January.
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