Nearly five percent of the state’s doctors are part of the H-1B work visa program.
The ongoing uncertainties and fear over the proposed changes in the H-1B visa program are not just contained to the IT sector. North Dakota that has the country’s highest rate of H-1B sponsored physicians is also feeling the impact of the potential overhauling of the work-visa.
The Peace Garden State is home to nearly 4.7 percent doctors who are on the H-1B visas. It is among the first states to feel the initial ripples for Trump’s stance on immigration and foreign workers.
“The H-1 visa program helps us recruit people that normally wouldn’t consider North Dakota, and what we hope is that the people come here to work and they fall in love with North Dakota and they stay,” said Courtney Koebele, executive director of the North Dakota Medical Association (NDMA), Public News Service reported on Tuesday.
Reportedly, there are nearly 400 foreign-born doctors in North Dakota. Koebele said that the rural nature of the area dissuades medical practitioners to work here. Not surprisingly, even the vice president of NDMA, Fadel Nammour, came to the US on H-1B visa. Such is the gap between the demand and supply that people from the remote areas cover hundreds of miles to consult a specialist.
The proposed changes in the healthcare plans, too, are detrimental to the existing system, Koebele said. The President’s suggestion to cut the Medicaid by $800 billion over the next 10 years could affect the Medicare, she explains.
“As we cut back on these low-income protections like Medicaid and Medicare, that really undercuts the whole system because if there’s a shortage of doctors for Medicaid and Medicare, then there’s a shortage of doctors for everybody,” Koebele added.
According to estimates by Association of American Medical Colleges, the country could face a shortage of up to 94,700 physicians by the year 2025. “Physician demand continues to grow faster than supply leading to a projected total physician shortfall of between 61,700 and 94,700 physicians by 2025. As with the 2015 projections, under every combination of scenarios modeled, an overall physician shortage is projected,” the report said.