CMS Re-releases Nurse Incentive NOFO

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on February 9, 2026, that they have re-opened the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Financial Incentive Administrators for the Nursing Home Staffing Campaign. Financial Incentive Administrators (FIAs) are public, private, and state institutions of higher education and non-profit organizations such as associations for nurses, nursing schools, and nursing students. Nursing homes and nursing home associations are ineligible to apply for this NOFO.

This NOFO is part of CMS's Nursing Home Staffing Campaign and will fund FIAs to recruit registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) to work in nursing homes and state survey agencies. The NOFO closes March 27, 2026. Read the NOFO here.

CMS intends to select FIAs in summer 2026. The FIAs will have time to set up infrastructure before beginning to recruit and place nurses and disburse funds. More information is forthcoming on eligibility criteria and procedures for nursing homes to be matched with incentivized nurses.