Educating Future Nurses Act
Sponsored By: Representative Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14]
Introduced
Summary
A Medicare-funded APRN clinical training program would create a National Graduate Nurse Education program to reimburse hospitals for advanced practice registered nurse clinical education. It would channel payments through regional Graduate Nurse Education Hubs that partner hospitals with nursing schools and community care sites.
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- APRN students and the workforce: More funded clinical slots and coordinated placements for nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. At least half of training must occur in non-hospital community settings, with a possible waiver for rural or medically underserved areas.
- Hospitals and GNE Hubs: Eligible hospitals would receive a per-student payment based on prior demonstration data and adjusted by the Consumer Price Index to cover reasonable education costs. Hospitals must form written partnerships, submit annual reports, and face up to a 25 percent payment reduction for missing required reporting.
- Rural communities and patients on Medicare: The program emphasizes placements in Federally Qualified Health Centers, rural clinics, nursing homes, home health, and similar sites to boost APRN capacity for primary, preventive, and chronic care for Medicare beneficiaries.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Medicare support for graduate nurses
If enacted, this bill would create a national Graduate Nurse Education (GNE) program under Medicare to pay hospitals for clinical training of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). Hospitals would be paid a per-student rate times the number of APRN students they train. The first rate would use data from the prior Graduate Nurse Education demonstration and then be indexed each year to the consumer price index. Annual reimbursement would be limited to costs tied to net increases in APRN enrollment above the average for January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025. At least half of clinical training would need to occur in non-hospital community settings, though the Secretary would be able to waive that for rural or medically underserved hospitals. Eligible hospitals would run regional GNE Hubs, must have written agreements with nursing schools and community partners, and would face a 25% payment reduction if they fail to file required annual reports after notice and a 30-day chance to fix them. The Secretary would be authorized to transfer money from Medicare trust funds to CMS to run the program and to set other program details.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14]
IL • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]
VA • R
Sponsored 9/16/2026
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
OR • D
Sponsored 9/16/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov