The recent imposition of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications threatens to deter international medical graduates from coming to the United States for their training and remaining as a vital part of our nation’s healthcare workforce, exacerbating a provider shortage that the rheumatology community is already experiencing.

In 2018, more than 2.6 million immigrants, including 314,000 refugees, were employed as healthcare workers, with 1.5 million of them working as doctors, registered nurses, and pharmacists. While immigrants represent 17 percent of the overall U.S. civilian workforce, they account for 28 percent of physicians. Furthermore, almost 23,000 H-1B physicians worked in underserved communities between 2021 and 2024, underscoring their importance in the American health care system.

Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) introduced the H–1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act (H.R. 7961), bipartisan legislation with Reps. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Yvette Clarke (NY-09). This legislation will exempt physicians and other health care workers from the new $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions. It also prohibits new H-1B fees from being imposed on health care workers that exceed the existing fees under the U.S. Code.

The ACR’s Legislative Action Center allows you to contact your members of Congress with just a few clicks. Take a moment to send your letter today and urge your lawmakers to co-sponsor this crucial legislation!