Rural Health Transformation Program: Policy, Oversight and Emerging State Strategies (Webinar)

The accelerated rollout of the Rural Health Transformation Program creates both opportunities and challenges for state policymakers. This webinar will provide an overview of how states are approaching implementation, oversight, and emerging strategies such as alternative payment models and value-based care.

Designed for legislators and legislative staff, and open to all, this learning opportunity is being co-hosted by the Midwestern Legislative Conference Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and Health & Human Services Committee

Webinar details

The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is designed to help states strengthen rural communities by improving healthcare access and delivery systems, quality and outcomes. In December 2025, Midwestern states were awarded $2.21 billion in federal RHTP funding.

As states move from planning to implementation, legislators face important questions regarding oversight, accountability, funding distribution, and long-term sustainability. This webinar will help policymakers better understand how states are structuring their RHTP initiatives and what early implementation trends are emerging across the Midwest.

With the first federal progress reporting deadline set for Aug. 31, webinar speakers will provide an overview of the program, discuss state-led strategies, and examine one key reform area gaining traction in multiple states: the use of alternative payment models and value-based care.

Speakers: Dr. Keith Mueller, director of the Rural Policy Research Institute at the University of Iowa; and Zil Joyce Dixon Romero, Senior State Government Affiars Manager at the National Rural Health Association.