Durbin, Cramer, Schneider Introduce Bipartisan Bill Addressing Shortage Of Doctors, Nurses

Durbin, Cramer, Schneider Introduce Bipartisan Bill Addressing Shortage Of Doctors, Nurses

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), along with U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), today introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to quickly address our nation's shortage of doctors and nurses. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would recapture 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for physicians that Congress has previously authorized-providing a desperately needed boost to our health care system in rural and urban areas.

"Immigrant nurses and doctors have always played a critical role in our health care system, and they saw us through the COVID-19 pandemic," said Durbin. "After years of caring for patients, it's unacceptable that thousands of trained health care professionals currently working in the U.S. on temporary visas are stuck in the green card backlog while our country faces dire health care shortages. The bipartisan Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act strengthens the health care workforce and helps to address the extensive immigration backlog."

"Highly trained immigrant doctors and nurses are a critical part of our workforce, and they provide valuable patient care at clinics and hospitals across North Dakota and throughout the country," said Cramer. "In many cases, these clinicians provide the only specialty care that's available in their community. Our bill recognizes this urgent need can be addressed in part at least through a realignment towards merit-based immigration. It'll allow highly skilled professionals to assist in solving the workforce and patient care demands of our communities without adding any numbers to the immigrant roster, just a realignment."

"The pandemic revealed the serious consequences our communities face when there is a shortage of qualified healthcare workers - a shortage we're still battling today. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act will address workforce shortages, ensuring that our hospitals are sufficiently staffed to provide Americans the best healthcare possible. I am proud to reintroduce this legislation so that more qualified nurses and doctors can serve our communities," said Schneider.

"Ensuring that all patients, especially those in rural and underserved areas, have access to physicians and high-quality care is a core advocacy priority of the American Medical Association. In keeping with that mission, the AMA strongly supports the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act and applauds the leadership of Sens. Durbin and Cramer, along with Reps. Schneider and Bacon. Recapturing 15,000 unused employment-based physician immigrant visas over a three-year period is a common-sense, bipartisan solution to alleviating the physician shortage. Importantly, the bill includes provisions that would exempt unused visas from per-country caps, allow eligible family members to accompany physicians, and ensure that visa recipients do not displace U.S. physicians. As the son of two International Medical Graduates who came to Flint, Mich., I know this legislation would strengthen our healthcare workforce and expand access to care forcommunities most in need," said American Medical Association (AMA) President Bobby Mukkamala, M.D.

"America's healthcare system faces an urgent challenge: Our workforce is at the breaking point. We simply don't have enough physicians, nurses, and healthcare technicians to meet the needs of patients. With membership that represents the entire care continuum, HLC has a unique vantage point on this critical issue and we recognize that the bipartisan Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act can be part of the solution. We applaud the efforts of Sens. Durbin and Cramer for cutting through the red tape and proposing this commonsense solution to support our frontline caregivers and patients," said Maria Ghazal, President & CEO of Healthcare Leadership Council.

"Physicians for American Healthcare Access is proud to endorse the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act. This bipartisan legislation directly addresses the systemic green card backlog that has created unnecessary barriers for international medical graduates, many of whom are pillars of their communities and vital to their patients and colleagues," said Dr. Ram Alur, President of Physicians for American Healthcare Access. "By allowing physicians with longstanding approved immigrant petitions to adjust their status, this bill will minimize disruptions for dedicated healthcare professionals serving in communities with persistent access challenges and will provide stability to their families. We thank Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Kevin Cramer for their leadership on this important initiative."

"The ongoing healthcare workforce crisis has a direct and profound impact on healthcare delivery across the United States, particularly in medically underserved areas. When hospitals and clinics cannot fill critical positions, patient care is delayed, and hospitals struggle to uphold access to vital services," said Carey Goryl, CEO of the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR). "The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act addresses these urgent issues by enabling a one-time recapture of unused green cards and directing them to qualified medical professionals so they can support our workforce more efficiently. By recapturing unused visas and reducing bureaucratic delays, this legislation helps ensure that hospitals and clinics have the staff they need to provide timely, high-quality care. AAPPR is proud to support this legislation."

Specifically, the Health Care Workforce Resilience Act:

• Allows for the "recapture" of green cards that were authorized by Congress but unused in previous years, allotting up to 25,000 immigrant visas for nurses and up to 15,000 immigrant visas forphysicians, as well as recaptured visas for immediate family members of such individuals;

• Requires employers to attest that immigrants from overseas who receive these visas will not displace an American worker;

• Requires eligible immigrant medical professionals to meet licensing requirements, pay filing fees, and clear rigorous national security and criminal history background checks before they can receive recaptured green cards.

Our nation has long faced health care workforce shortages, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought these challenges to crisis levels. One in five health care workers left medicine during the pandemic. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), 610,388 nurses reported an intent to leave the nursing field by 2027. Similarly, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the United States could see a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034. These shortages tend to hit rural and medically underserved areas the hardest.

In addition to Durbin and Cramer, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Coons (D-DE), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Todd Young (R-IN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Mike Rounds (D-SD).

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act is supported by AdventHealth, Adventist Health Policy Association, Adventist HealthCare, American Academy of Neurology, American College of Physicians, American Health Care Association, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment, Illinois Health and Hospital Association, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, FWD.us, Healthcare Leadership Council, National Immigration Forum, National Kidney Foundation, National Rural Health Association, Physicians for American Healthcare Access, and Society of Hospital Medicine.

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