The Trump Administration’s H-1B Visa Policies Could Contribute to Health Care Workforce Shortages

An overview of the H-1B visa program and trends in visa approvals for health care workers.

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news. The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news. NEW & NOTEWORTHY KFF Examines Potential Impacts of Trump Administration H-1B Visa Policies on the Health Care Workforce A new KFF issue brief provides an overview of the H-1B visa program and analyzes trends in H-1B visa approvals for the health care and social assistance industries. It also examines the potential implications for the U.S. health care workforce of recent Trump administration policies affecting the H-1B visa program.   H-1B workers are foreign workers with temporary approval to work in the U.S. in jobs that require specialized skills or knowledge. Such workers have played an increasing role in health care and social assistance jobs, with new and continuing visa approvals for the sector rising by 8% between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, from just under 18,000 to over 19,000. In FY 2025, New York, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida accounted for over half of all approved H-1B visas in these industries.   Recent Trump administration policies, including an increase in the entry fee for new H-1B visas to $100,000, will likely lead to reductions in the H-1B workforce, which could exacerbate existing health care worker shortages, including in the rural physician workforce. Read the analysis Contact: Chris Lee | 202.654.1403 | ChrisL@kff.org  When citing our work, please note our legal name is KFF. We should be cited as KFF, a nonprofit health policy research, polling, and news organization. Our name is no longer the Kaiser Family Foundation.  Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for emails from KFF. This email was sent to awesomeblogger71.lificletter@blogger.com. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Or, permanently unsubscribe from all future emails. Need assistance? Email subscriptions@kff.org; do not reply to this email. The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news. KFF, 185 Berry Street, Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107