The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced Thursday that it will begin accepting applications for the state’s Rural Health Workforce Incentive Program on April 15. The new workforce program “supports recruitment, retention, and expansion of clinical services in rural communities” by financially incentivizing health care providers to work there.
About $20 million dollars are available for the first year of the program. Funds are provided through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP).
Congress created the $50-billion RHTP program in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The funds are meant to strengthen rural health care across the country and offset Medicaid cuts introduced in the same bill, which will disproportionately affect rural residents. Nebraska received nearly $1.1 billion to use over the five-year grant period, divided into $218.5 million a year.
Providers can receive between $7,500 to $75,000 per year in awards. Award amounts are based on provider specialty type. Nebraska’s original RHTP budget said the state plans to give about 235 awards per year.
Two types of awards are available. Providers moving from urban to rural areas or expanding services to rural areas can receive relocation or expansion-based awards, and providers already working in rural areas are eligible for retention-based awards. These providers must commit to serving five years at a Medicaid-accepting facility.
Providers must work at an eligible facility type in a rural area, including:
- Rural Health Clinics (RHC)
- Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC)
- Indian health clinics
- Emergency Medical Service (EMC) agencies
- Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)
- Rural emergency hospitals
- Prospective payment system hospitals
- Nursing homes and assisted living facilities
- Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC)
- Mental and behavioral health clinics
- Private practice
- Schools
- Local health departments
- Dental clinics
Nebraska DHHS will prioritize rural health care providers serving in frontier counties, facilities with a high percentage of Medicaid recipients and uninsured patients, high need professions and providers serving all their time in rural counties.
Some cost-share is required by facilities that retain awardees and must meet minimum Medicaid participation levels.
Two webinar information sessions will be hosted on April 14 and April 22 for interested providers and employers.
Health workforce needs in rural Nebraska
Health care workforce shortages and retention issues are often more prevalent in rural areas. Nebraska’s RHTP application states more than a third of Nebraskans live in rural areas subject to “critical workforce shortages and limited access to family practice physicians, specialty care providers such as obstetricians, and behavioral health services.”
According to a 2024 report from the Nebraska Center for Nursing, only 18% of nurses (RN/APRNs and LPNs) were working in rural counties. It projected Nebraska would be short 5,400 nurses in 2025.
Nebraska Hospital Association President Jeremy Nordquist told Nebraska Public Media News in February that he was concerned Nebraska did not set aside enough RHTP funds to address workforce issues.
“I think we're generally short on workforce investment compared to other states, and that's very concerning, because we know during COVID – when a lot of federal dollars came in – there was an incredible competition,” Nordquist said. “The concern is here, by not directing enough, we're not going to be able to recruit a limited pool of providers that's out there nationally to Nebraska.”
Nordquist said Nebraska was slightly behind on releasing the funds, meaning other states could have already recruited the most in-demand health care providers.
Since February, Nebraska’s RHTP has been finalized, which added $2 million to the rural health workforce initiative.