Radiology groups endorse bill to exempt physicians from $100,000 visa fee

Radiology and other specialties are voicing their support for a bipartisan bill that would exempt physicians and nurses from a new $100,000 visa fee. 

First introduced in mid-March, the H-1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act also would prohibit the administration from imposing new immigration visa fees, beyond existing charges under U.S. code. 

The White House had introduced the six-figure charge last September in a bid to curb immigration. However, medical societies including the American College of Radiology and American Society of Neuroradiology contend the levy will only exacerbate workforce shortages, especially for independent practices and safety net hospitals.  

ACR, ASNR and over 40 other organizations shared their support for the Healthcare Workforce Act in a letter to lawmakers written April 15. 

“The consequences of this fee, and lack of exemptions, are already being felt,” ACR et al. wrote. “The added cost is causing health employers, including safety-net hospitals and other practices, to pause or abandon recruitment of physicians and other providers, recruitment that in many cases has been in progress for over a year.”

Those signing the letter included the American Medical Association, American College of Cardiology, American Society of Anesthesiologists and numerous others. They contend that employers—and especially independent doc groups, many of which operate on “razor thin margins”—cannot absorb a six-figure fee “on top of existing onboarding costs.” Months of delays in hiring foreign physicians to fill roles only translates to longer wait times, deferred care and risks straining already overburdened emergency departments. 

ACR, ASNR and others emphasized that international medical grads are “essential to a high functioning U.S. healthcare system.” Currently, they make up about 1 in 4 practicing physicians in the U.S. and disproportionately serve rural and underserved communities. 

“Without these providers, many communities would have little to no access to the care patients depend on, and the fee is now actively undermining the pipeline that delivers them,” the doc groups wrote. “The ‘H-1Bs for the Physicians and Healthcare Workforce Act’ is a narrowly tailored, commonsense solution. The bill ensures that physicians and other essential health care providers are not unnecessarily swept into a fee structure designed to address other workforce sectors.”

Both ACR and the ASNR highlighted the letter in separate news updates shared with their members on Wednesday. The message was addressed to legislation co-sponsors including Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.