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President Donald Trump made an announcement at a rally at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers on Oct. 23: “Today I have breaking news for the benefit of American seniors,” FOX 35 Orlando reported (1).
The news is a $275 million program called Nurses for Nursing Homes. It’s meant to recruit and keep nurses in the places many of our parents, and many of us, may someday live (1).
Three days later, he posted on Truth Social that nurses “can get up to $50,000 in Grants for working in rural communities or understaffed facilities,” The Hill reported (2).
I’ll give credit where it’s due. Staffing matters to every family with a loved one in a nursing home.
But I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and my job is to follow the money. This money goes to nurses. Nothing in the program is designed to lower what you’ll pay for care.
And that bill is huge. The national median cost of a private nursing home room hit $129,575 a year in 2025, according to CareScout’s Cost of Care Survey (3).
Medicare won’t cover a long stay. “Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care,” according to Medicare.gov (4). Yet someone turning 65 today “has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services,” says the federal Administration for Community Living (5).
Here are 5 things this plan won’t do for your family, and what to do instead.
1. It won’t lower your bill
A semi-private nursing home room costs a median $315 a day, or $114,975 a year. A private room runs $355 a day, CareScout found (3).
Run the math on a two-year stay in a private room, and you’re past $259,000 (3).
That’s more than many retirees could cover from income alone. The real question is which savings you’d tap first, and what each choice costs you in taxes.
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2. It won’t change what Medicare covers
Medicare covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term basis, and generally only after an inpatient hospital stay of “at least 3 days in a row” (6).
In 2026, you pay $0 for days 1 through 20 after the $1,736 deductible. For days 21 through 100, “You pay $217 each day.” After that, “You pay all costs” (6).
For long-term care, Medicare.gov is blunt: Medicare and most health insurance, including Medigap, don’t pay for it (4).
Long-term care insurance helps fill that gap, covering services like home care, assisted living, and help with daily tasks. Rates are typically lowest if you buy in your 50s or early 60s, couples often qualify for discounts, and premiums may even be tax-deductible.
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3. The ‘$50,000 grants’ come with strings
Here’s what that line didn’t spell out. The program offers “up to $40,000 in student loan repayment and up to $10,000 as a stipend,” according to its CMS website (7). That’s how you get to $50,000.
In return, nurses must commit to three years of work, averaging at least 30 hours a week, at a qualifying nursing home, FOX 35 reported (1). The program is expected to support more than 4,000 nurses nationwide (1).
It isn’t new tax money, either. CMS committed $100 million, states are committing at least $175 million more, and the money comes from civil monetary penalties that CMS and states collect from nursing homes (1).
Putting nursing homes’ fines to work hiring nurses is a smart idea, in my view.
But CMS says all 50 states and D.C. are participating (1). Spread 4,000 nurses across 51 jurisdictions, and that’s about 78 apiece. That won’t transform the nursing home down the street overnight.
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4. It won’t pick a good nursing home for you
That part is still your job, and the government gives you a free tool. Medicare’s Care Compare site rates nursing homes with an overall score, plus “separate ratings for health inspections, staffing and quality measures,” according to CMS (8).
Check the staffing rating before you sign anything. Then visit in person more than once, at different times of day.
If you’d like help narrowing the field, a referral service such as A Place for Mom can help you compare senior living options in your area.
5. It won’t protect your savings from Medicaid’s rules
When the savings run out, Medicaid often picks up the tab. As of July 2024, 1.2 million people lived in nursing facilities, and over 60% of them had Medicaid as their primary payer, KFF reports (9).
But Medicaid looks back. Under federal rules for transfers made on or after Feb. 8, 2006, “the look-back period is 60 months” (10).
In plain English, money or property you give away within five years of applying can be counted against you. That’s why the time to plan is years before anyone needs care, not the week Mom moves in.
My honest take
The president deserves credit for pointing nursing homes’ own fines at a real staffing problem. If it puts more nurses at more bedsides, families win.
But don’t confuse more nurses with cheaper care. The bill is still yours, and Medicare still won’t pay it.
So do the unglamorous work now. Price out care where you live, decide how you’d pay for it, and get your paperwork done while you’re healthy. The best nursing home plan is the one you make before you need it.
Sources: 1. FOX 35 Orlando; 2. The Hill; 3. CareScout; 4. Medicare.gov; 5. Administration for Community Living; 6. Medicare.gov; 7. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 8. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 9. KFF; 10. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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