By Alex Fincher on June 29, 2026
Category: Health Policy & Advocacy

ARN Health Policy Digest – July 2026

We are pleased to present the July issue of the ARN Health Policy Digest. This member benefit provides updates on health policy and legislative and regulatory developments that may be of interest to rehabilitation nurses.

FY 27 LHHS Appropriations Bill Passes to House Floor

​The House Appropriations Committee released the report, bill text and manager's amendment for the FY 27 LHHS appropriations bill and the bill passed the full appropriations committee with a vote of 34-28. Notably, the bill rejects many of the cuts present in the President's budget request, such as cuts to the Title VIII HRSA Nursing Workforce Development Program. The manager's amendment addresses the Department of Education's final rule that blocks the agency from lowering the student loan borrowing caps for nursing degrees, by preventing any funds from being appropriated to the Title IV federal student aid programs unless advanced nursing programs are considered professional degree programs. Although this bill rejects major cuts to important nursing programs, and level funds for others, it does not reflect the increases and asks of ARN. Additionally, this bill still has a long way to go since it must pass the House floor and be reconciled with the LHHS bill the Senate produces.

Please see below for a breakdown of funding below:

​ARN Hosts Hill Day

ARN sponsored a few of its members to come to Washington DC to advocate on behalf of rehabilitation nurses. Advocates met with their Members of Congress to educate on what rehabilitation nursing is and make three asks on behalf of the community. ARN members asked their Members of Congress to provide $610 million in funding for the HRSA Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs, and $215 million for the National Institutes of Nursing Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. Additionally, our nurses asked Members of Congress to co-sponsor two important pieces of legislation: H.R. 3593/S.1874 the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025 and H.R. 8691, the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act. The Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025 intends to reauthorize the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs at HRSA as they expired at the end of FY 25. The Nursing is a Professional Degree Act will include advanced nursing degrees as professional degrees in the Department of Education's Final Rule. This would grant nurses seeking an advanced nursing degree access to a higher borrowing limit for their loans.  

OMB Releases Proposed Rule for Federal Grantmaking​

On May 29 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed rule that would make changes to the current government-wide framework that governs grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of federal financial assistance across all federal agencies. Specifically, universities, research institutions, hospitals, nonprofits, and state and local governments would all be affected by the change in administration of federal funding. The proposed rule would expand OMB's authority over federal grant design and oversight, standardize award administration across the government, impose new requirements on grantee selection and funding decisions to ensure they are aligned with the Administration's priorities, and allow for grant cancellation at any time for any reason, and put a limit on the types of costs that are allowed under federal awards.

According to OMB, this proposed rule is to increase transparency, oversight, and accountability while helping to clarify the legal status and implementation of government wide grants and administrative burden. However, it is likely that these proposed changes will give OMB and the administration more power into what grants and funding the government provides, meaning that the administration can use this power to push their funding agenda. Additionally, this proposed rule would allow OMB to update regulations guiding federal funding instead of having each agency to revise its own regulations which is a departure from the existing practice which is designed to support merit-based funding decisions.

The proposal is currently open for public comment through July 13 before OMB considers final implementation starting October 1, 2026.ere ...

​Notice of Funding Opportunities​

Below is a list of other funding opportunities for interested ARN members.