The United States is already struggling with a growing shortage of doctors and nurses, especially in rural and underserved areas. Now, a hefty $100,000 visa fee for hiring foreign healthcare workers has added to those worries, with hospitals warning it could make staffing even harder. The rule requires companies and hospitals to pay the amount for each skilled international worker hired on an H-1B visa.
Recently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has stepped in with a new bill aimed at easing the burden and keeping hospitals staffed.
Hospitals across the country had warned that such high costs could make it harder for them to hire much-needed staff, especially at a time when the healthcare system is already under strain. The American Medical Association has warned that the US could face a shortage of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036.
According to the NYT, the new bill aims to make sure hospitals can continue hiring these professionals without facing huge financial pressure. The bill has support from both Republicans and Democrats. It has been introduced by Mike Lawler, Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Maria Elvira Salazar, and Yvette Clarke.
Nearly 60,000 Indian doctors practising in US
As per the latest available data from mid-2024, around 59,000 Indian doctors are currently practising in the United States. The estimate is based on analysis by the Migration Policy Institute and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. These figures mainly refer to doctors born in India who trained abroad or came to the US as international medical graduates. They make up nearly 22% of all immigrant doctors in the country.
At the time, the US had close to 990,000 doctors overall, out of which about 26.5%, roughly 2.6 lakh, were immigrants. For comparison, the next largest group came from China and Hong Kong, with around 16,000 doctors.
Why America needs H-1B medical professionals
Many hospitals in the US depend heavily on doctors trained outside the country. Every year on July 1, a new batch of medical residents joins hospitals, and a large number of them are international graduates.
These doctors often work in rural areas and underserved communities, where finding local doctors is already difficult. They also step into fields like primary care, where many US-trained doctors are less willing to work.
The American Medical Association has welcomed the bill and urged lawmakers to act quickly. Speaking to the NYT, Dr Bobby Mukkamala, who leads the organisation, detailed how serious the situation already is. “I live in Flint, Michigan, a very medically underserved place that really depends on international medical graduates,” he said. “If this doesn’t get fixed, it leaves places like my hometown and other rural communities without enough physicians to take care of that population.”
He added, “In many such communities, international medical graduates play a vital role in providing care and ensuring patients can see a doctor when they need one.”
The visa fee could also worsen the shortage of nurses. As of 2022, about half a million immigrant nurses were working in the US. That means one in every six registered nurses in the country is from outside the US.
The H-1B visa is not limited to healthcare. Many industries, including technology and finance, rely on it to hire skilled workers from around the world.