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Iowa is seeking up to $1 billion in federal funding to bolster rural hospitals and clinics through a new program created under the sweeping Republican tax-and-spending law passed earlier this year — a law that also slashed billions from Medicaid and other federal health programs.

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that the state has submitted its application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion initiative created under what supporters dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

If approved, Iowa could receive as much as $200 million annually for five years to implement its proposal, “Healthy Hometowns.”

“Since taking offic

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