For your role
RHTP for FQHCs and Rural Health Clinics.
FQHCs and RHCs are explicit eligible recipients in many state plans. Chronic-disease, access, and behavioral-health programs are the most common matches, and clinic-class pools often run on a separate track from hospital-class pools.
Your money path
The clinic-class routes.
-
01
Competitive state subaward in a clinic-class pool.
Many state plans set aside subaward pools specifically for community-based clinics: chronic-disease management, behavioral-health integration, access expansion, community health workers. Apply directly; FQHCs and RHCs are named as eligible recipients in most state plans for these categories.
-
02
Subaward as part of a regional collaborative.
When a state routes funds through a regional collaborative or a hospital system as the lead applicant, FQHCs and RHCs are typically among the named subrecipients. This is common for telehealth hub-and-spoke models and rural access networks.
-
03
Direct provider payment within the 15 percent cap.
Where eligible facility types qualify, RHCs in particular can be in scope for the direct-payment lane. The state decides which facility types it includes and the mechanics of payment.
What you need
Prerequisites before the first RFA.
-
Federal registration
Active UEI and SAM.gov registration. Most FQHCs already have this for HRSA 330; confirm it is current.
-
2 CFR Part 200 systems
If you have managed Section 330 funds, your existing compliance posture transfers directly. Note that the program-wide 10 percent administrative cap is tighter than HRSA's allowed indirect rates.
-
Anti-supplantation discipline
RHTP cannot pay for what your 330 grant already funds. Frame your RHTP request as new, measurable transformation that sits on top of the operating base.
-
UDS and operational data
FQHC reporting infrastructure (UDS, panels, BPHC data) is a strong baseline for showing the targets that RHTP applications require.
How to frame
Anti-supplantation, then sustainability.
Two framings decide most outcomes.
Beat the anti-supplantation trap
RHTP cannot backfill 330-funded operations and cannot finance the non-federal share of Medicaid or CHIP. Reframe the request as a documented transformation: a behavioral-health integration that expands access, a chronic-disease program with explicit panel-level targets, a value-based readiness initiative with baselines and milestones.
Answer "what pays for this after 2030"
For clinics, the post-2030 bridge is usually some combination of Medicaid managed-care contracts, payer arrangements for behavioral-health integration, and prospective-payment adjustments that recognize the new service. Show that bridge explicitly in the application.
Where to start
The next links.
- How to get RHTP money the capture playbook, with the route by organization type.
- How RHTP money flows the statute, the caps, anti-supplantation, sustainability.
- Behavioral-health capture map the integration pools that match clinic capabilities.
- Prevention and chronic-disease capture map the pools that most often name FQHCs as eligible recipients.
- Federal program reference the ten statutory allowable uses and the rules every state plan answers to.
FAQ
FQHC and RHC questions, answered.
-
Are FQHCs and RHCs eligible for RHTP funding?
Yes. Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics are explicit subrecipient candidates in the statute and are commonly named in state plans for chronic-disease, access, and behavioral-health work.
-
How is RHTP different from HRSA Section 330 grants?
HRSA 330 funds the core operations of an FQHC. RHTP funds transformation initiatives that sit on top of that base: expanded behavioral-health integration, value-based readiness, telehealth buildouts. RHTP cannot supplant the 330 grant, but it can fund transformation the 330 grant does not.
-
Can an RHC compete with a hospital for the same pool?
Sometimes. Many state plans set aside specific pools for clinic-class recipients (FQHCs, RHCs, and other community-based providers) and others for hospital-class recipients. The Atlas surfaces which pools you compete in and which you do not.
-
What does the 10 percent administrative cap mean for a clinic?
It caps state-recognized administrative overhead at 10 percent program-wide, which constrains your subaward indirect-cost recovery. Plan for tighter overhead on RHTP than on HRSA 330 work; bake direct staff costs into the program budget instead.
-
Do I need a Single Audit if I take RHTP money?
Only if total federal expenditures cross $1 million in a fiscal year (2 CFR 200 Subpart F). Many FQHCs already are at or above that threshold because of 330 alone; for smaller RHCs, RHTP may be the trigger.
See where your clinic fits.
The Atlas tells you which initiatives in your state name FQHCs or RHCs as eligible recipients, with the source behind every fact.