Immigration Laws Would Address Midwest Healthcare Shortages

With the Midwest relying increasingly on foreign-born healthcare professionals to fill critical labor gaps, a new study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs finds that urgent immigration reforms are needed to ensure the future vitality of the healthcare sector. Updating visa allocations for foreign-born graduates from US medical schools, removing H-1B visa quotas and caps for healthcare professionals, and streamlining credentialing processes for foreign-born professionals would help the United States, and the Midwest in particular, mitigate acute shortages of healthcare workers just as the aging baby boomer population is expected to demand increasing resources.

The healthcare sector, which is fundamental to the U.S. economy and livability, is under strain:

• The US Census projects a 36 percent growth in the number of Americans over age 65 in the next decade, with nearly 1/3 of all physicians retiring because they fall in that age demographic. Meanwhile, the number of individuals needing healthcare is increasing as an estimated 20 percent of Americans will be 65 or older and on Medicare in the next 15 years.
• US-born medical school graduates are not going to fill the gaps because they often pursue careers in lucrative specialties and relocate to coastal cities, causing severe shortages of critical primary care, pediatric, and family medicine physicians in the rural Midwest.
• Foreign-born healthcare professionals who have completed their training overseas face complicated, inconsistent reaccreditation processes in the United States, leaving many unable to practice in their fields.

 
A continued political stalemate on immigration reform means these issues will only grow in urgency. The report argues that Congress should work urgently with the next Administration to update policies to:
 

• Issue visas according to labor force demands.
• Remove H-1B visa quotas and caps on high-skilled doctors and surgeons.
• Streamline credentialing challenges for foreign-born professionals.
• Allow undocumented individuals to access some forms of insurance.
• Train healthcare professionals to provide linguistically and culturally competent care to diverse populations.