Kansas webinar + Legislation Watch
Rural Health Transformation Program Daily Brief, March 21, 2026
Kansas Evidence-Based Practice Program Webinar
The Evidence-Based Practice Program, part of the State’s Rural Health Transformation Plan, will launch with a webinar on Monday, March 30, 2026, from noon to 1:00 p.m. This webinar will introduce the Evidence-Based Program, which helps rural hospitals and clinics build and maintain the infrastructure to implement and sustain evidence-based practices and report on performance measures that demonstrate quality of care. The State has contracted with the University of Kansas Health System Care Collaborative to operate the Program. The following details relating to the Program will be discussed during the webinar:Hospital and clinic eligibility criteria
Payments to be made to participants
Rural Hospitals: $100,000 infrastructure payment and up to $50,000 per quarter for July-September reporting
Clinics (including RHCs, rural FQHCs, and CCBHCs): $50,000 infrastructure and $25,000 for July-September reporting
Program timeline
Key provisions of the Program participation agreement
Performance measures
Available resources
The webinar will include a Q&A session.
A webinar recording will be available for those unable to attend on March 30.
Legislation Watch
Primary RHT Legislative Actions
Idaho S1264: A fund-creation and oversight bill that establishes the Idaho Rural Health Transformation Fund and creates a legislative committee to govern how RHTP money is spent. S1264 is the Senate origin of the legislation; an identical House companion, HB916, was passed by the Idaho House on March 19, with only minor differences in the makeup and requirements of the oversight committee. Idaho Freedom
Idaho was awarded almost $186 million annually through RHTP in December, but those funds cannot reach communities until spending authority has been approved by the Legislature — the Senate and House have yet to agree on how funds should be spent. Idaho Business Review
S1264 is currently retained on the Senate calendar as lawmakers work toward a chamber agreement.
Iowa HF2468 / HSB619: Iowa’s RHTP spending authority and accountability bill. The bill would give the state Department of Health and Human Services the authority to distribute Iowa’s $209 million in federal rural health transformation funding. KCRG
The legislation creates the Iowa Rural Health Transformation Fund and requires the Iowa Department of HHS to file quarterly reports on how the agency is allocating the federal funds, including county-level data on where the money is allocated. The Gazette
HSB619 was the subcommittee draft; it was approved and renumbered as HF2468 on March 18, and has now been further renumbered as HF2743 as it advances.
Kansas HB2555: A transparency and oversight bill requiring the Governor to report RHTP spending to legislative committees. Kansas was awarded $221 million from CMS to support the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. KDHE
As previously documented, the bill requires RHTP grant applications, expenditure information, and reports to be submitted to the State Finance Council and relevant appropriations committees. Signed by the Governor on March 20, 2026 — now law.
Appropriation & Budgetary Links
Alaska HB289: Alaska’s supplemental appropriations bill and the primary vehicle for RHTP funds in the state, which includes $272 million for the Rural Health Transformation Program federal grant in the governor’s amendments. Thecordovatimes
The bill has passed one chamber and has now advanced to a Limited Powers Free Conference — a procedural mechanism allowing House and Senate conferees to resolve differences on specific provisions — signaling active negotiation toward final passage.