The AAMC-endorsed H-1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act (H.R. 7961) sponsored by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) was introduced on Tuesday. The bill would exempt physicians and other health care workers from the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas and prohibit additional fees from being imposed on health care workers that exceed the existing fees under the U.S. Code.
The legislation is in response to the September 2025 presidential proclamation, “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” which imposed a $100,000 H-1B visa filing fee on all American employers [refer to Washington Highlights, Sept. 26, 2025]. The bill’s introduction followed a Feb. 11 AAMC-endorsed letter led by Lawler and Clarke to then Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, urging the department to provide an exemption for the hospital and health care sector from the $100,000 fee for filing a new H-1B visa petition [refer to Washington Highlights, Feb. 13].
AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, was quoted in Lawler’s corresponding press release on the bill’s introduction as saying, “The AAMC recognizes this important first step to addressing the H-1B issue that poses a significant, real challenge to the academic medicine workforce. To ensure the U.S. maintains the world’s most talented health care professionals, we must have a viable pathway. This bipartisan legislation helps by supporting our nation’s medical schools, academic health systems, and teaching hospitals that rely on highly educated international talent.”
- Washington Highlights