Governor Kay Ivey on Monday announced Alabama has officially received its award number from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, for the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, RHTP, formally approving Alabama’s plan and unlocking $203,404,327 in first-year funding. The five-year program, seeking to help improve healthcare access, quality and outcomes in the state, will be administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, ADECA.
“We are very pleased Alabama will be awarded more than $203 million in the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. After President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law in July, Alabama got to work preparing for this program so we could hit the ground running once our state’s new comprehensive rural health strategy was approved,” said Gov. Ivey. “Now that it has been approved, we will take the next steps to ensure our citizens and communities benefit for generations. Making America Healthy Again begins in rural America, and I look forward to being able to improve health care across Alabama.”
The RHTP was established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Congress passed in July and was signed by President Trump. Shortly after the law’s passage, Governor Ivey directed state agencies to begin developing a comprehensive rural health strategy to ensure Alabama was prepared once the program launched.
“Governor Ivey knows how important this program will be to the people of Alabama, and ADECA appreciates the trust she has placed in us to administer it,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell.
In November, Gov. Ivey announced Alabama’s plan had been submitted to CMS for approval. In December, Ivey signed an executive order establishing the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Advisory Group to advise on implementation, policy development and oversight so the state would be positioned to move quickly upon approval.
The plan includes 11 initiatives:
- Collaborative Electronic Health Record, EHR; IT and Cybersecurity Initiative
- Rural Health Initiative
- Maternal and Fetal Health Initiative
- Rural Workforce Initiative
- Cancer Digital Regionalization Initiative
- Simulation Training Initiative
- Statewide EMS Trauma and Stroke Initiative
- EMS Treat-In-Place Initiative
- Mental Health Initiative
- Community Medicine Initiative
- Rural Health Practice Initiative
It was developed with the input and collaboration of the Governor’s Office, ADECA, the Alabama Department of Finance, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency, along with dozens of stakeholders, healthcare experts and lawmakers, Ivey’s office shared.
ADECA has created a webpage for the program and will update it as more information becomes available: https://adeca.alabama.gov/alruralhealth/.
