Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Discusses Immigration as a Means to Combat the Health Care Workforce Shortage
  • Witnesses argued that current immigration laws further contribute to health care workforce shortages.
  • Legislation to base the number of immigrant physicians that can practice in the U.S. on each state's need was discussed.
  • Members agreed that the health care workforce shortage has placed a burden on the U.S. health care system.
Today, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety held a hearing to discuss the role of immigrants in the health care workforce. While current law allows health care professionals to migrate to the U.S. in order to provide medical services, growing health care workforce challenges have called attention to the limitations that currently exist within the parameters of these policies.

Throughout the hearing, Republicans and Democrats agreed that the health care workforce shortage has placed a burden on the U.S. health care system, resulting in additional barriers compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats called for passage of the HealthCare Workforce Resilience Act (S. 1024) and the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act (S. 1810) in order to address the intricacies of current immigration law that further contribute to these shortages. While there was agreement amongst parties that immigrant health care professionals could lessen this burden, the need to address broader immigration challenges — such as asylum immigration reform — prior to the passage of legislation regarding legal immigration and the health care workforce was the general consensus among Republican members of the Subcommittee.