Congress Proposes Bill to Boost Funding for Nursing Schools and Hospital Training Programs

HHS must issue rules to implement the expanded Medicare reimbursement for nursing education costs

Within 120 days of enactment, hospitals would know exactly how to report their expanded training costs to Medicare and start getting reimbursed for a wider range of education expenses.

Hospitals begin receiving broader Medicare reimbursements for nursing and allied health training

Once the new rules take effect, hospitals can include more direct and indirect education costs on their Medicare cost reports, giving them more money to fund training programs and potentially expand the number of nursing students they can support.

Government refunds money recouped from hospitals over the past six years for now-allowable education costs

Hospitals that had Medicare payments clawed back for nursing education expenses would get that money returned, providing an immediate financial boost to those facilities.