Trump set to pay nurses $50,000 to work in rural assisted-living facilities

President Donald Trump has announced a $250 million plan to incentivize nurses to take jobs in understaffed assisted-living facilities in remote areas by offering them $50,000 grants.The president championed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy on Truth Social late Monday, posting: “The Trump Administration is proud to announce a 250 MILLION DOLLAR PLUS initiative to RECRUIT and RETAIN Nurses for Nursing Homes! “This Federal and State Initiative will support thousands and thousands of Nurses and Nursing Students Nationwide, including those serving rural communities. “Through the brand new Nurses for Nursing Homes Initiative at CMS, Nurses can get up to $50,000 in Grants for working in rural communities or understaffed facilities. “This Fund was nearly a THIRD of this amount until I stepped in, and had our Great Governors join the fight. Now many more of our Incredible Nurses can be rewarded for helping our Fantastic Seniors.”The Trump administration has announced a new financial incentive to encourage nurses to take jobs in rural assisted-living facilities (Getty)He called the policy “a BIG Win for America!” and added: “No one else in the HISTORY of our Country has delivered more for our Nurses and our Seniors than my Administration.”His post came after the Department of Health and Human Services promoted the same initiative Friday by saying it would make nurses eligible for “up to $40,000 in student loan repayment and/or a $10,000 stipend” in exchange for their committing to work in a nursing home in a rural or higher labor-shortage area for a three-year period. HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said of that scheme that it was intended to “expand care in rural and high-need communities, and create new pathways into long-term care careers.”CMS Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz said it was about “supporting families who want their loved ones to receive quality care in nursing homes,” no matter where they live.Senate Democrats, led by Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, meanwhile called for a complete overhaul of the long-term care system earlier this month, saying that universal long-term care coverage for Americans of all ages, disabilities and needs is what is most needed. President Donald Trump is currently staging rallies around the country to encourage voter turnout at the midterms, in which older, rural constituents could play a vital role in determining his fate (Reuters)The focus on the care needs of older, rural voters comes a week before the American public heads to the polls for midterms elections that will define how the second half of Trump’s final term plays out, with the president keen to do all he can to shore up support from a key demographic. The president has been on a cross-country tour over the last two weeks, rallying in red states in the hope of energizing his base and encouraging turnout, urging his MAGA loyalists to get out and vote as though he himself were on the ballot. Should they fail to do so en masse and back the Republican candidates Trump has endorsed, he risks losing the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate.If that were to happen, he would likely spend his last two years in office as a “lame duck,” targeted by Democratic congressional investigations and unable to get his preferred legislation through a hostile Congress.The president has already offered the wider public a financial reward for backing his candidates, declaring at his midterms convention in Texas last month that every American would receive a $5,000 check if Republicans hold onto both chambers of Congress – a pledge attacked as a bribe that would cost as much as $1.3 trillion to enact.