Trump’s New $100K Visa Fee Could Worsen State Doctor Shortages, Experts Say
By Nada Hassanein
Stateline
In Kentucky, patients drive up to two hours to see Dr. Manikya Kuriti, one of the few endocrinologists who serve the rural communities surrounding Louisville.
Kuriti’s husband,a pulmonologist,drives from Louisville to small hospitals an hour south and north,in Indiana,to help small teams treat critically ill patients.
Rural communities have long struggled to recruit and retain doctors. Many rural hospitals are struggling financially, and have had to eliminate services or even shut down. The shortage of providers is critical in rural communities that tend to have higher rates of chronic illness and early death compared with their urban counterparts.
Many immigrant physicians help fill those gaps thanks in part to the H-1B visa, which allows skilled foreign workers to come work in the U.S. Both Kuriti and her husband came to the U.S.via the H-1B visa.
But last month, President Donald Trump announced a new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. the announcement quickly drew criticism from leading medical organizations, which note immigrant physicians make up a meaningful portion of the health care workforce. They’re concerned the move will hinder the flow of immigrant doctors to the U.S. and exacerbate the nation’s doctor shortage, which is expected to worsen in the coming decades.
Earlier this month, labor unions and other groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the administration over the payment. They argue that the move is unlawful and that the president doesn’t have the authority to circumvent Congress to collect such revenue. The plaintiffs – represented by the South Asian American Justice Collaborative, the Justice Action Center and others – include the AFL-CIO Committee of Interns and Residents and Global Nurse Force.
Last month,the American medical Association and more than 50 other organizations sent a study published in July in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
‘The need is ther’
When Dr. Sridevi Alla arrived in Mississippi two decades ago, she was part of a small team of hospitalists at a rural clinic in Kosciusko.