BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong has signed four bills giving out federal money for the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program.
This is the first year of the five-year initiative which gives out funding to make up for lost Medicaid revenue since Congress changed eligibility requirements while passing the One Big Beautiful Act.
“Our citizens who depend on rural health care stand to benefit greatly from this program, and the Legislature deserves a ton of credit for staying focused and quickly moving these bills across the finish line,” Armstrong said. “Now comes the challenge of deploying these dollars in ways that improve the health and well-being our citizens, and we’re excited to work with our partners across the state to make North Dakota the healthiest state in the nation.”
Legislators approved authorizing $398 million over the first two years of the Rural Health Transformation Program. That’s assuming funding will be consistent in the second year. That won’t be known until the amount is announced in October.
Bills passed also require the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in physical education, adds nutrition education to continuing education requirements for physicians, has North Dakota join the physician assistant licensure compact and allows pharmacists to prescribe medications.
The state’s Department of Health and Human Services will now promote grant opportunities to support rural health priorities.
