North Dakota – Governor Kelly Armstrong informed legislative leaders that Jan. 21 has been identified as the tentative date for a special session of the 69th Legislative Assembly to approve anticipated federal funding for North Dakota’s Rural Health Transformation Program.

The state submitted its funding application to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Nov. 3, requesting more than $500 million over five years to improve access, quality, and outcomes in rural health care. CMS is expected to announce award decisions by Dec. 31.

Armstrong noted that the Legislature must appropriate the funds before they can be spent. Once the funding award is confirmed, the governor will issue an executive order officially convening the Legislature for the special session.

“The Rural Health Transformation Program gives North Dakota an incredible opportunity to strengthen and reshape rural health care,” Armstrong said, emphasizing collaboration with legislative leaders to efficiently allocate federal dollars to improve citizen well-being.

The program, part of the federal Working Families Tax Cut Act, focuses on four strategic initiatives: stabilizing the rural health workforce, promoting preventive care and healthy living, bringing high-quality care closer to home, and connecting technology, data, and providers.

The application incorporated input from over 1,200 survey responses and three listening sessions attended by more than 300 participants.

The federal law allocates $50 billion over five years, with half distributed equally among all states and the other half based on applications demonstrating the greatest potential impact on rural communities.