Ivey Announces Alabama Plan Submitted for Rural Health Transformation Program
Plan will tap $50 Billion Rural Health Fund passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill
Governor Kay Ivey has announced that Alabama has submitted its strategy for the federal Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The program is part of the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and is a multi-year initiative that makes $50 billion available for States to bolster health care access and outcomes in rural America.
As someone who grew up in Wilcox County, Ivey emphasized the personal importance of strengthening rural health care in Alabama. “Making America Healthy Again begins in rural America,” she said, and noted she looked forward to “the State and federal governments working together to improve health care across the State.”
Alabama’s plan—dubbed the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP)—offers a package of 11 initiatives aimed at driving improvements in rural health care. Among these are efforts to expand electronic health records and cybersecurity, enhance maternal and fetal health, build up the rural health workforce, and increase access to telehealth and community-based medicine.
The broader goal: make rural hospitals and clinics more financially sustainable, raise quality of care, and improve health outcomes in communities that have long faced barriers to access.
The ARHTP was developed by a collaborative team that included the Governor’s Office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), the Alabama Medicaid Agency, the Alabama Department of Finance, and the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency. Input also came from a 20-person workgroup of healthcare experts and lawmakers, and a wide range of Alabama stakeholders.
Once funding is awarded, ADECA will oversee the program and issue rules for how healthcare providers and eligible recipients can apply.
The federal funding awards through CMS are expected by year’s end. States had been working toward a November 5 deadline for applications under the Rural Health Transformation Program.
For Alabama, this plan gives officials a way to support rural healthcare delivery, modernize technology and workforce training, and leverage federal resources to help remote communities. Once approved and funded, the work of translating plans into results can begin.
