H-1B visa fee shock: Doctors may be exempted from Trump's $100,000 fee — details here
The Trump administration may exempt doctors from the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee after pushback from medical organisations. This fee was seen as a threat to healthcare accessibility, especially in rural areas of America.
The Trump administration is considering exempting doctors and medical residents from the new $100,000 H-1B visa application fee after pushback from some of the biggest medical bodies, the White House notified on Monday.
The new fee, if applied to healthcare workers, was seen as a major threat to treatment accessibility, particularly in rural parts of America where there’s already a shortage of providers.
“The Proclamation allows for potential exemptions, which can include physicians and medical residents,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in an email to Bloomberg.
H-1B visas key to US healthcare
The H-1B visa programme is a vital tool in hospital and healthcare systems, especially for recruiting doctors in remote parts of the country, where there is, in some cases, a severe scarcity of medical professionals.
The American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala, a Michigan head and neck surgeon, emphasised that international medical graduates are “a critical part of our physician workforce”, before the Trump administration said it had a potential exception for doctors and those in training.
Many health care employers often use the H-1B programme to sponsor medical residents and other physicians, the news report said.
Financial impact on healthcare providers
A $100,000 fee for each H-1B visa application could significantly increase the labour costs for large medical systems.
Federal data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service reveals that high-profile health systems such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital are among the industry’s top sponsors of H-1B visas. Mayo alone has more than 300 approved visas, according to the data, which would have meant millions in additional costs.
Market reacts to potential visa fee exemption
Following the news of the potential exemption, shares of major hospital operators saw an increase. HCA Healthcare rose as much as 1.4% as of 11 a.m. New York time, whereas Tenet Healthcare Corp rose 3% at the same time, reflecting the relief felt by the industry.
The initial policy proposal was a cause of concern as more than 76 million Americans live in areas where the government has designated a shortage of primary care doctors, according to federal data compiled by health research group KFF.