Incentives aim to lure RNs to nursing home jobs
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The Biden administration unveiled a tuition repayment program to incentivize nurses to work in nursing homes or state agencies that monitor them as it wraps up its final days in office.
Why it matters: President Biden's marquee policy to improve nursing home care — a national staffing requirement for skilled nursing facilities — is likely to be rolled back by the incoming Republican trifecta.
Zoom in: Registered nurses who work for three years in a qualifying nursing home or in a state agency oversight role can get up to $50,000 in tuition reimbursement and upfront incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, McKnight's Senior Living first reported.
- CMS will offer up to $20 million in grants to nonprofit nursing and education organizations. Those groups will then distribute money to nurses who qualify.
Context: Nursing homes have protested Biden's minimum staffing policy — and are suing to stop it — in part because they say they can't find enough nurses and aides.
- Indeed, both nursing homes and the state agencies that make sure they're following the rules face staffing shortages.
What they're saying: "For nursing homes to be able to compete for in-demand employees, initiatives such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' financial incentives program recently, are critical," Janine Finck-Boyle, LeadingAge vice president of health policy and regulatory affairs, wrote in an email.
Yes, but: The American Health Care Association, a trade group for nursing home operators, said that only offering the aid to RNs ignores the value that licensed professional nurses bring to long-term care.
- Including nurses who work as surveyors in the program also reduces resources for recruiting nurses involved in patient care, the group said in a statement to Axios.
- "Ultimately and unfortunately, this effort is a drop in the bucket considering the number of nurses we need nationwide, especially to be able to comply with the new staffing mandate," said Holly Harmon, senior vice president of quality, regulatory and clinical services at AHCA.
