As a Financial Incentive Administrator, nursing homes will be able to give RNs up to $40,000 in student loan debt relief and a $10,000 stipend after staying with a facility for three years, according to a Jan. 9 news release from the American Health Care Association.
CMS launched the staffing campaign in response to industrywide workforce shortage concerns looming over the agency’s impending minimum nursing home staffing rule.
About 40 states and nonprofits have sued HHS and CMS over a staffing rule that, when implemented in 2026, would require long-term care facilities to have a registered nurse on site for 24 hours per day, seven days a week. The current rule requires an RN to be on site eight hours per day, seven days a week.
Only small businesses, private-, public- and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and nonprofits are eligible to apply for funding, according to details provided by CMS on the federal grant website.
The estimated total funding for the program will range from $5 million to $20 million and applications are scheduled to close on March 7, the website said.
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