CMS Announces Financial Incentives for Nurses to Work in Nursing Homes
(Jan. 14, 2025) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced, last week, information about its plan to offer financial incentives to promote recruitment of registered nurses (RNs) to work in nursing homes. As part of its national Nursing Home Staffing Campaign, launched last month, CMS issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeking applicants to administer financial incentives, such as tuition reimbursement and stipends, to RNs to work for three years in a qualifying nursing home or as inspectors with a state survey agency.
The financial incentives will be either or both of the following:
- RN student loan debt amounts up to $40,000 over three years.
- $10,000 as a stipend for living expenses over three years. This stipend will be adjusted for the cost of living for a particular area, based on the current wage index used in the CMS Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS).
The expected award date for the contracts to administer the incentives is May 2025, and incentives are likely to begin in 2026.
The national Nursing Home Staffing Campaign was created in connection with the adoption of federal minimum staffing standards for nursing homes to help homes to come into compliance with the new standards. More information about RN financial incentives and the campaign is available from LeadingAge National here and from CMS here.
Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org