How Immigration Incentives Can Attract Foreign Clinicians to U.S. Health Care Jobs

The healthcare sector in the United States has been wrestling with a hefty labor shortage that was widely aggravated by COVID-19, as well as certain changes in the country’s demography, such as a rapidly growing aging population. Although the U.S. labor market did recover somewhat once the pandemic stabilized, employment in the healthcare industry stayed under pre-pandemic levels, causing a rather urgent gap in the workforce. Even though employment numbers have risen since then, there still are not enough healthcare workers, and their necessity continues to outpace their availability.

Immigration has long helped fill healthcare worker shortages, especially because many immigrants tend to be more open to working in low-income or underserved areas. 

Fortunately, as experienced Texas business immigration attorneys, we understand how the current immigration laws limit how much immigrants can help meet the growing need for health care workers. Understanding immigration rules and creating clear pathways for healthcare workers could help ease the current staffing crisis.  

Current State of the U.S. Healthcare Industry

The health care industry lost a lot of jobs starting in March 2020, when COVID-19 began to impact workers. While some jobs have returned, there is still a huge shortage. In 2023, roughly 14% of working Americans were employed in the social service and healthcare industries, a figure that has remained largely the same since 2009. The pandemic briefly slowed this trend, leading to a decrease in both 2021 and 2022. In 2023, the numbers began trending upward, but came to a screeching halt at a mere 0.3% higher than they were in 2019, and they still haven’t recovered.

Assuming, for a moment, that health care jobs had continued to grow at the same pace as before the pandemic, there would have been many more workers in 2023. Health care alone would have had about 559,000 more workers, and health care and social services together would have had about 697,000 more workers than they actually did.

New Policy Suggestions

In order to help alleviate labor shortages among U.S. healthcare workers, changes in four fundamental policy areas can help attract foreign clinicians to jobs in U.S. healthcare. They are:

• Occupational licensing
• Immigration
• Investing in immigration infrastructure 
• Retention and recruitment

Health Care Labor Supply and Immigration Policies

Several visa changes need to be made to make it easier for medical professionals to come to the United States and start working.

• New visa options: Create visas specifically for health care workers that are processed faster and require less paperwork.
• H-1B visas: Increase the yearly limit on H-1B visas for health care workers, similar to the higher limits already allowed for academic jobs.

These changes would bring more qualified health care workers into the United States across many medical fields, especially from countries with training similar to U.S. standards. Using existing visa programs, such as the TN visa, is another way to help fill these worker shortages.

• New specialized visas: The U.S. could create new visas for jobs facing worker shortages, especially for graduates in health care fields. These visas would reduce paperwork and give skilled workers a clearer and faster path to work in the United States.
• Expanding the TN visa program: The TN visa makes it easier for certain Canadian and Mexican medical professionals to work in the United States. Updating the list of eligible jobs to include health care roles where workers are in short supply would help meet current needs. Raising awareness of TN visas for health care workers from Canada and Mexico, and making other visa applications simpler, could quickly help fill open health care jobs.

By expanding the TN visa program to include more medical jobs, the United States can use existing visa systems and its close location to Canada and Mexico to add health care workers more quickly.

Reforms to Occupational Licensing 

In addition to encouraging U.S. schools and programs to train more health care workers, there are also several ways to make it easier for immigrants to work in health care.

• National licensing standards: Creating one national licensing exam for health care workers trained outside the United States would make the process more consistent and reduce differences between states. This approach would build on efforts already happening in the U.S., where 26 states have adopted universal licensing rules to make it easier for professionals to work across state lines.
• Special licensing agreements: Agreements that allow medical professionals to work in multiple states help to break down barriers. Common examples include compacts for registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, and doctors that make it easier to practice across state lines.
• Reciprocal agreements: Making agreements with countries that have strong medical training programs, such as the Philippines and India, would allow the U.S. to recognize foreign medical credentials more easily. This would help qualified health care workers get licensed and start working faster.
• Helping foreign-trained workers qualify: Offering training programs to help foreign-born workers meet U.S. standards, and updating licensing rules, would allow qualified immigrants to use their full skills and help fill health care jobs more quickly.

Together, national licensing efforts and agreements with other countries could make it easier for health care workers to move where they are needed and use their full training, helping reduce worker shortages.

Reformations to Retention and Recruitment 

Another way to address the shortage is to create federal and state programs that actively recruit health care workers from other countries. These programs could focus on countries with strong medical training and offer incentives, such as faster permanent residency and the ability to bring family members, especially for those who agree to work in underserved areas.

Some states are testing programs that allow doctors who trained outside the United States but did not match into U.S. residency programs to work as fully licensed physicians if they agree to serve in rural or underserved areas. Expanding similar programs to other health care jobs could also help reduce worker shortages.

By targeting countries with strong medical training programs and offering clear ways to live and work in the United States, these programs could bring in well-qualified professionals to fill important health care jobs.

Invest in and Reform the U.S. Immigration Infrastructure

Two major changes could make the immigration process work better and help the United States respond more quickly to health care worker shortages.

• Changing the public charge rule to exclude direct care workers, such as frontline health care staff, would lower the odds of them being denied entry because they could potentially make use of public assistance.
• Improving the immigration system by adding additional staff and more funding would move applications along faster and reduce delays. Faster processing would also make it easier for healthcare workers to come to the United States and lower the expense and frustration prompted by exorbitant wait times.

These changes would encourage more people to apply who may have avoided the process before because of the public charge rule or long delays.

How Will This Attract Foreign Clinicians?

The U.S. health care system does not have enough workers, and this shortage could affect patient care and how well the system works. The problem is especially serious because many Americans need ongoing care for long-term health conditions, and because the population is getting older while many health care workers are retiring.

When there are not enough health care workers, it can affect the quality of care patients receive and lead to worse health outcomes. It can also increase costs for private insurance and public programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are already under pressure because health care costs keep rising.

Changing immigration rules for health care workers can be an important way to help fill the worker shortage. Current immigration policies are too strict, and reforms should focus on a few important areas.

• Make it easier for health care workers to get visas
• Raise limits on existing work visas for health care jobs
• Simplify licensing rules so workers can start sooner
• Improve efforts to recruit and keep health care workers
• Remove policy rules that make it harder for workers to come to the U.S.

Call Coleman Jackson P.C. Today

Fixing immigration rules for health care workers is an important step toward solving staffing shortages and protecting patient care. Clear, practical reforms can help bring qualified professionals to where they are needed most.

If you need guidance on business or healthcare–related immigration matters, a Texas business immigration attorney at Coleman Jackson, P.C. can help. Call (214) 599-0432 or fill out our online form to discuss your legal options and next steps.

This law blog is written by the attorneys at Coleman Jackson, P.C., located at 6060 North Central Expressway, Suite 620, Dallas, Texas 75206, for educational purposes only. It does not create an attorney-client relationship between this law firm and the reader. You should consult with legal counsel in your geographic area regarding any legal issues affecting you, your family, or your business.

Coleman Jackson, P.C. | Tax Law, Business Law, Immigration Law | English: (214) 599-0431 | Spanish: (214) 599-0432