Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday signed Executive Order No. 741 to establish the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Advisory Group. The Advisory Group will advise the governor on the progress, policy development and implementation of Alabama’s Rural Health Transformation Program, ARHTP, after its anticipated launch in January.
“The creation of the Rural Health Transformation Advisory Group enables Alabama to hit the ground running once the state’s new comprehensive rural healthcare strategy is greenlighted by the Trump Administration,” said Gov. Ivey. “The members of this group will help ensure our programs initiate positive transformations to the way Alabamians receive quality healthcare and that those transformative investments and policies are sustainable.”
The Advisory Group is comprised of five members of the Alabama Senate and five members of the Alabama House of Representatives as selected by the governor. Additionally, the director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, ADECA, shall serve as a member, as well as the division chief of ADECA’s Federal Initiatives and Recreation Division (or the Division administering ARHTP), who shall serve as secretary.
Governor Ivey has selected Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, Senate Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, Senator Greg Albritton, Senator Clyde Chambliss, Senator Donnie Chesteen, Senator Bobby Singleton, Representative Anthony Daniels, Representative Jamie Kiel, Representative Rex Reynolds and Representative Pebblin Warren to serve as Advisory Group members.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act – which President Trump supported, and Congress passed in July – includes a multi-year, $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program that “empowers states to strengthen rural communities across America by improving healthcare access, quality and outcomes by transforming the healthcare delivery system,” Ivey’s release said. In compliance with the federal law, Gov. Ivey announced that Alabama’s Rural Health Transformation Program plan was submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, for approval.
The Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program was developed by a core team, including the Governor’s Office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Alabama Department of Finance, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency. Governor Ivey also sought input from dozens of stakeholders around the state and established a 20-person workgroup of healthcare experts and lawmakers to help inform the process and develop the plan.
Funding awards from CMS are expected to be announced by the end of the year.
