June 2026 Policy Update

Summary: June 2026 policy updates that impact psychiatric-mental health nurses include new accrediting rules for organizations, state weapons laws, and faculty loan repayment.

Key Developments

• CMS finalized new oversight rules for accrediting organizations, including changes that affect Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facilities and the psychiatric hospital survey process.
• HRSA opened the 2026 Faculty Loan Repayment Program, including eligible nursing faculty pathways for RNs and APRNs.
• Virginia enacted a hospital weapons law aimed at protecting patients and health care workers in hospitals that provide mental health or developmental services.
• California implements new nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals to reflect patient acuity and care needs.

Practice Policy Update

CMS: Medicaid community-engagement/work requirement rule

• June 1, CMS issued an interim final rule implementing Medicaid community-engagement requirements for certain adult Medicaid beneficiaries. Covered adults must meet an 80-hour-per-month work, education, work-program, or community-service requirement unless they qualify for an exception or exclusion. States must implement by January 1, 2027.

Virginia Governor signs weapons ban for hospitals providing mental health or developmental services

• Signed by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger on June 4 and effective July 1, 2026, Bills HB 229 and SB 173 prohibit firearms and other dangerous weapons in hospitals and medical facilities that provide mental health or developmental services.

California implements new nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals

• Effective June 1, California’s Department of Public Health implemented emergency regulations for acute psychiatric hospitals. The rules create numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios and also require staffing to reflect patient acuity and care needs. The regulations are available at the Office of Regulations website.
• Related: APNA Position on Staffing Inpatient Psychiatric Units states that quality and effectiveness of inpatient psychiatric treatment relies on sufficient staffing levels and teams of staff with particular expertise and capabilities.

Treatment Policy Update

FDA Updates

• FDA approved over-the-counter intranasal naloxone product, Rextovy, a 4 milligram (mg) naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose.
• The FDA cleared Wave Neuroscience’s biomarker-guided neuromodulation system MeRT for PTSD. It is described as the first clearance from the FDA for a personalized, biomarker-guided neuromodulation platform for PTSD.

Accreditation/compliance Policy Update

CMS finalizes stronger oversight of accrediting organizations

• Issued June 12 and effective one year after Federal Register publication, CMS issued the Strengthening Oversight of Accrediting Organizations final rule, which requires CMS-approved accrediting organizations to align more closely with Medicare standards, address conflicts of interest, improve survey consistency, and submit correction plans when performance is unacceptable. This rule includes changes to the psychiatric hospital survey process.

Funding

HRSA opens Faculty Loan Repayment Program for nursing faculty pipeline support

• Applications Open! Deadline: July 9, 2026: HRSA 2026 Faculty Loan Repayment Program is open and offers up to $40,000 in loan repayment for eligible faculty members who serve at approved health professions schools. Review the Faculty Loan Repayment Program Fact Sheet (PDF – 735 KB) to check eligibility.

SAMHSA announces $40 million in funding opportunities across eight grant programs

• June 11, SAMHSA announces $40 million in funding opportunities for eight grant programs that aim to advance President Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative by preventing addiction, strengthening the behavioral health workforce, and supporting efforts to address mental illness and prevent suicide.

APNA Advocacy

Nursing Community Coalition advocacy in support of nursing education, workforce, and research

• As a member of the Nursing Community Coalition, APNA supported:
  • A letter to the House Rules Committee, along with the leadership of the House Armed Services Committee, urging support for Amendment 103 to H.R.8800, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027.
  • A letter thanking Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Lauren Underwood, and John Mannion, along with Senators Jeff Merkley and Angela Alsobrooks, for introducing a Congressional Review Act Joint Resolution.
  • A letter thanking Senators Peter Welch, Marsha Blackburn, and Angus King, along with Representatives Tracey Mann and Joe Neguse, for introducing the bipartisan and bicameral States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment (SHARE) Act.
  • A letter thanking Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, along with other supporters, for introducing the bipartisan and bicameral Nursing is a Professional Degree Act and urging its passage this year.
  • An issued statement applauding the House Appropriations Committee for providing an overall funding increase for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and level funding for the National Institute of Nursing Research.

Published June 2026.

This summary was informed by human-guided AI tools. Readers are encouraged to review the supporting links for full information.