Health care costs continue to be a challenge for governments, businesses and families. With the election of Donald Trump, our nation awaits another change to healthcare funding at the federal level.
President Trump, as well as almost every Republican elected to Congress, promised some sort of repeal or reform of the Affordable Care Act. As Congress and the president tackle this, they should consider the positive impact immigration reform can have on improving healthcare delivery.
One of the biggest drivers of rising health costs is the cost of labor. The increasing shortage of doctors and other providers increases costs two-fold: first, temporary agencies are used to provide care. Not only does this significantly increase the labor cost, but the short term nature of the assignment is disruptive for patients and compromises the quality of care.
Second, organizations are forced to rely on overtime and additional labor bonuses to provide minimum staffing when shortages exist. These increased labor costs dramatically impact the cost of care. We hear a lot about the cost of prescription drugs and insurance company profits, but the rising cost of labor and the impending labor shortages are the great untold story in the American healthcare debate.
Even more, mandatory overtime on health professionals is not conducive to positive employee engagement, retention or safe patient care. The stress on health care workers is already high, without mandating overtime hours. The shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in the U.S is a key cause of mandatory overtime.
The healthcare worker shortage is real. America's 3 million nurses make up the largest segment of the health-care workforce and nursing is currently one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country. Despite that growth, demand is outpacing supply. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.2 million vacancies will emerge for registered nurses between 2014 and 2022. And according to a team at Vanderbilt University, by 2025, the shortfall is expected to be "more than twice as large as any nurse shortage experienced since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s."
We need to consider basic laws of supply and demand. When it comes to healthcare professionals, we have a supply problem. If the Trump administration wants to ensure healthcare that is safe and affordable for Americans, immigration reform can play a role by making sure it is easier for qualified healthcare workers to enter the U.S. This is a solution that doesn't cost the federal government a dime, but reduces costs for patients while improving care.
By relaxing the H1B visa process to allow for more qualified healthcare professionals to enter the United States, we can solve the shortage problem without lowering standards or sacrificing quality. H1B Visas are non-immigrant visas that allow companies to hire graduate level workers in fields like medicine that require specialized training.
And as the new administration looks to reduce and eliminate burdensome regulations, they should start with the time-consuming H1B process. The regulation-heavy process allows other countries the opportunity to beat the US to the best healthcare talent as they look for ways to attract qualified and license-eligible nurses to enter their countries.
It's critical that immigration reform relaxes the rule as it applies to nurses. Trump made clear during the election that his primary concern was related to illegal immigration rather than the legal entry of professionals who are needed in our country. It behooves our country to allow qualified and license-eligible RNs to join them.
Congress and the President should immediately examine the rules as they are written and consider how they can help relieve the shortage in the United States by allowing more healthcare professionals into the country via the H1B visa option. This is an easy step Congress can take to control healthcare costs.
In the first 100 days of a Trump presidency, immigration and healthcare will take center stage. While changes to the H1B program may not be headline grabbers, they can improve the quality of care and reduce the rising of costs of America's healthcare organizations.
By Jill Schwieters, President, Cielo Healthcare
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