# 119-s-4204: Rural Health Innovation Act of 2026

119-s-4204, Rural Health Innovation Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4204
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4204
- Congress: 119
- Title: Rural Health Innovation Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-25
- Sponsor: Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Expanding rural emergency and primary care capacity**. This bill would create two competitive grant programs to help rural clinics, hospitals, and local health departments set up walk-in urgent care, emergency triage and staging centers, and to convert some facilities into Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). - Rural families and patients would see more local walk-in urgent care, emergency triage, and staging for ambulance or air transport, with access to labs, X-ray, and cardiac monitors to reduce travel for emergency-like care. - Clinics and hospitals that become or are FQHCs or RHCs could get five-year grants to establish or maintain these centers; first-year awards up to $500,000 for existing FQHCs/RHCs and up to $750,000 for conversions, then up to $500,000 per year in years 2–5. - Local rural health departments could compete for annual grants up to $500,000 for equipment, hiring providers, and community outreach, with limits that cap academic partnership spending and early outreach at small percentages of each award. *This bill would authorize $25 million per year for each program from 2027 through 2031, increasing federal spending by up to $50 million per year over that period.*

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More grants for rural health services: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create two HHS grant programs to expand rural urgent care and local health services. One program would fund FQHCs, RHCs, or hospitals that agree to convert to an FQHC or RHC to run walk-in urgent care and triage centers. Those grants would run up to five years. First-year…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-199: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide special rules for the taxation of certain residents of Taiwan with income from sources within the…

## Sources
- [119-s-4204 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4204)

## Related
- [119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3597)
- [119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5025)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-199: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide special rules for…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-199)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4204 (as of 2026-04-21).