The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a nationwide initiative on Oct. 23, 2026 called Nurses for Nursing Homes, committing $275 million to recruit and retain licensed nurses in nursing homes. The agency said the program is expected to support more than 4,000 nurses across the country.
CMS described the effort as focused on nursing homes in rural or higher labor shortage areas. The agency framed the initiative as a way to expand care in communities with acute staffing needs and to create new entry points into long-term care careers.
Under the program, eligible licensed nurses and nursing students who agree to work in qualifying nursing homes for three years may receive financial incentives. Those accepted may qualify for up to $40,000 in student loan repayment and/or a $10,000 stipend. The payment structure is tied to a three-year service commitment at an eligible facility.
Eligibility requirements reported by CMS include:
CMS also set an employment-history requirement: applicants must not have worked in a nursing home for at least 60 days before opening an application account and starting an application. The agency noted a limited exception that applies from Oct. 26, 2026 to Jan. 24, 2027 for nurses who began working in eligible facilities between July 28 and Oct. 25, 2026.
CMS said it has committed $100 million to the initiative, with those funds coming from civil monetary penalties collected by the agencies and states from facilities. States have committed at least an additional $175 million, bringing the combined total to $275 million.
The agency projected this combined funding will help recruit and retain thousands of nurses, particularly in underserved and high-need communities.
In a statement included in the CMS announcement, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., said the program provides future financial relief through student loan repayment, and framed it as a way to support families and improve the quality of care residents receive.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., described the initiative as a measure to recruit and retain thousands of nurses, expand care in rural and high-need communities, and create new pathways into long-term care careers. He said the resources are being put directly behind nurses who care for seniors to strengthen the quality, stability, and dignity of nursing home care.
CMS identified licensed nurses and nursing students as the primary audience for the program. The initiative targets staff for nursing homes that are Medicare-, Medicaid-, or dually-certified, with particular emphasis on facilities in rural areas or those experiencing labor shortages.
The inclusion of both loan repayment and stipends aims to attract nurses with existing student debt as well as recent graduates without loans, subject to the graduation-timeframe requirement for stipend eligibility.
The announcement included specific operational and timing details for applicants. Among them:
The source did not provide details on the application opening date, the exact mechanics of how funds will be disbursed, or state-by-state rollout schedules. For those operational specifics, CMS’s Nurses for Nursing Homes site and the agency’s press materials would be the definitive sources.
CMS framed the initiative as part of efforts to stabilize and strengthen the long-term care workforce, particularly by directing resources toward facilities that serve older adults in underserved areas. The program pairs federal funds collected through civil monetary penalties with state commitments to create a targeted recruitment and retention fund.
No additional program evaluations, projected timelines for reaching the 4,000-nurse target, or follow-up accountability measures were reported in the announcement cited.
CMS and participating states will carry out the program implementation, though the announcement did not include a full rollout timetable or the precise application-launch date. Interested nurses and nursing students should consult the official Nurses for Nursing Homes web portal for application instructions and any state-specific information.
The initiative reflects a direct federal-state funding partnership designed to encourage longer-term employment of nurses in nursing homes through student loan repayment and stipends tied to multi-year commitments. Observers and stakeholders will likely watch enrollment and retention outcomes as the program moves from announcement to operation.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcement on Oct. 23, 2026; CMS press materials quoted in the agency announcement.
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