Big Healthcare Circles The Wagons As DHS Floats New H-1B Fee

Some of America’s biggest healthcare associations released letters of public comment condemning the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed H-1B visa regulation fees.

The window for submitting public comment regarding DHS’ proposed rule, “Fee for Certain H-1B Petition,” closed Thursday. The American Hospital Association (AHA) and American Medical Association (AMA) were two of several healthcare professional trade unions to criticize the $103,265 visa fee proposed by the Trump administration’s DHS.

In an open letter to Joseph Edlow, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the AHA said that the new rule could significantly impact the doctors employed in the 5,000 hospitals it represents.

“The AHA recommends that DHS make healthcare professionals exempt from any additional fees to ensure continued access to timely, high-quality care for all communities,” the letter reads.

The American Medical Association also wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin saying the new costs of requiring an H-1B visa could produce devastating consequences for International Medical Graduates and directly impact the healthcare system.

“The proposed rule is likely a violation of the Major Questions Doctrine,” the AMA letter alleges.

The Major Questions Doctrine of the Constitution states that an agency, “exceeds its authority when it attempts to undertake actions with political and economic significance that Congress has not clearly granted the agency authority over.”

The DHS and USCIS told the Daily Caller News Foundation they will address questions and concerns about the proposed ruling through the public comments process.

The H1-B visa program, first established in 1990, allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign nationals for highly skilled specialty occupations such as in the technology, engineering and medical fields.