Hospitals nationwide are urging the Trump administration to reconsider a steep new fee for hiring highly skilled workers from other countries. Many turn to medical professionals from abroad to fill the gaps, but the new $100,000 price tag for the popular H-1B visa is making that nearly impossible, particularly for midsize hospitals or smaller.
“We need to stabilize,” said Jamie White, the chief nursing officer at Frederick Health in Maryland. She also said, “We have had a continual desire to bring on about 100 nurses for the last three years.”
Frederick Health, like others nationwide, looked abroad to fill in the gaps, planning to sponsor up to 45 nurses on H-1B visas. Now, those plans are on hold, with a new $100,000 fee to obtain the visa and hire foreign employees.
“We cannot afford that for even one individual,” White said.
The Trump administration announced the policy change in September, with President Trump saying it provides an incentive to hire American workers. The administration has since clarified that the fee is for new applicants living abroad, not those already here.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers called the administration’s actions a necessary reform.
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages,” Rogers said in a recent statement to CBS News.
Frederick Health and other hospitals are hoping for an exemption for medical workers, given an ongoing national shortage.
“I know there’s a lot of concern with bringing people to the United States, and they might be taking U.S. jobs, but we do have a shortage of clinical team and highly skilled workers,” White said.
The American Hospital Association wrote the Trump administration a letter in late September asking for exemptions for health care personnel. The letter detailed the association’s concerns and said that rural and underserved communities could be hit hardest.
“Given the staffing and financial challenges our hospitals are already facing, the increased petition fees outlined in the September 19 Proclamation would likely prevent many of them from continuing to recruit essential health care staff and could force a reduction in the services they are able to provide,” said the letter, addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The Department of Homeland Security did not comment on the letter when contacted by CBS News.
The Trump administration’s executive action notes that organizations can apply for exemptions. CBS News has reached out to the White House about whether the administration is considering an exemption for medical workers, and whether the number of any exemptions will be capped.
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