$100K visa fee could worsen rural doctor shortage: Study
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The Trump administration's $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applicants could exacerbate the shortage of doctors in poor and outlying areas and widen disparities in care, according to research published in JAMA on Wednesday.
Why it matters: More than 11,000 doctors — or roughly 1% of the U.S. physician workforce — were sponsored for H-1B visas last year. Visa holders were likelier than their domestic counterparts to fill critical gaps in health care, such as primary care and psychiatry.
What they found: The analysis of Labor Department data found areas with the highest poverty among 3,240 counties surveyed had nearly four times as many H-1B-sponsored physicians as the lowest poverty levels.
- The percentage of H-1B-sponsored physicians was nearly twice as high in rural counties compared with urban counties.
"Increasing visa fees could exacerbate workforce shortages and worsen access to care, particularly in rural and high-poverty communities," the authors wrote.
- The findings support extending fee waivers for physicians and other health care professionals, they said.
Some in Congress are calling on Trump to explore alternate approaches to fixing the high-skilled immigration system instead of imposing a fee on new applicants.
- The administration has said that the fee would not apply to existing visa holders, and indicated it would consider case-by-case exemptions.
- Organizations like the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association are lobbying for broader exceptions for health care providers, saying the fees could make it more difficult to recruit and exacerbate staffing and financial challenges.
