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Arkansas already faces major problems providing health care to its citizens, and as our Griffin Coop reported last week, the situation will likely grow worse.
Why? Because President Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee for new international hires on H-1B visas.
“Hospitals in Arkansas have used foreign workers in the program to fill critical roles for which they have been unable to find qualified Arkansans, including specialty doctors and lab technicians,” Coop reported. “Historically, facilities would spend about $10,000 per foreign worker, but at $100,000, the economics simply don’t work.”
The president said the program had been abused, resulting in the replacement of American workers with cheaper, lower-skilled labor. But health care executives in Arkansas say there aren’t enough qualified American workers to fill the needed positions and that the spike in visa fees will make it harder to find staff.
The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis predicts health care worker shortages will only increase with the aging of the baby boom generation.
And many hospitals in Arkansas, particularly rural hospitals, face grave financial challenges. “We’re drowning out here,” said Leslie Huitt, CEO of Bradley County Medical Center in Warren.
We urge the president to rethink the fee increase.
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