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AAPI Lauds Bipartisan Legislation Aimed At Speeding Up J-1 Visa Approvals For Indian And Overseas Doctors

Press Release
05/12/2015

With the beginning of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health insurance coverage is expected to expand to an additional 34 million people in the United States. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects that universal coverage will increase use of all physicians by 4%, while the Bureau of Health Professions projects a 5.2% increase.   According to Census projections, the overall population will increase by 15.2% from 2010 to 2025, and the population aged older than 65 years will grow by 60%, while those aged younger than 18 years will increase by 13%.

Accordingly, it’s been estimated that the total number of office visits to primary care physicians alone for the United States will increase from a base of 462 million in 2008 to 565 million in 2025. Because of aging, the average number of visits to primary care physicians increases from 1.60 in 2008 to 1.66 in 2025. By age 65, about two-thirds of senior citizens have at least one chronic disease, and 20 percent of Americans older than 65 see 14 or more physicians and average 40 physician visits each year.

Combined with these is the age factor of the currently practicing physicians themselves. Every 1 in 3 practicing physicians in the U.S. is over the age of 55 and is close to retirement. The irony, however, is that the number of Medicare-sponsored residency slots has been capped since 1997, and the Medical school graduates may exceed the number of residency positions by 2015. Struggling to meet these higher demands and reduced supply of physicians, the nation is projected to be short by more than 90,000 physicians by 2020 and 130,000 physicians by 2025, according to projections by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Responding to this shortage of physicians in the U.S., two US Lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan Legislation to speed up visa approval for Indian and Pakistani doctors slated to work in hospitals in the U.S. Called the Grant Residency for Additional Doctors Act of 2015, the legislation introduced by Democrat Grace Meng and Republican Tom Emmer, both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would direct the State Department to speed up the visa approval process for international physicians.

While introducing the Bill, the lawmakers stated, "Currently, foreign physicians scheduled to serve their residencies at American hospitals are encountering extremely long delays in obtaining J-1 visas from U.S. embassies in their countries, particularly in India and Pakistan.” The J-1 is a temporary non-immigrant visa that foreign physicians use to work in U.S. medical residency programs. The holdups have resulted in major dilemmas for those doctors and the U.S. hospitals — many in rural and underserved communities — at which the physicians are set to work, they said, citing a long-standing concern by the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin. In many instances, the delays have forced hospitals to withdraw offers from foreign physicians who had already accepted.

“After many years of advocacy and lobbying by AAPI and many other similar organizations, we are extremely delighted and grateful for introducing this historic measure,” said Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, President of AAPI. “Physicians Shortage was one of the key issues that was addressed as part of the Legislative Agenda for 2015 for the annual Legislative Day and Reception organized by Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin,” he pointed out. The annual Legislative Day by AAPI, the largest ethnic organization of physicians, representing over 100,000 physicians, fellows and students of Indian origin in the US, was held at the historic Cannon Caucus Building on Capitol Hill on March 26th, 2015. In their efforts to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill, particularly on issues relating to healthcare, more than 100 members of AAPI from around the nation shared of the need to fix the many vital healthcare issues that confront the physicians in the US, even as the nearly two dozen US Lawmakers from both the Parties endorsed AAPI’s agenda and expressed strong support, while promising to do the needful in the US Congress.

"The excessive delay in approving visas for international physicians is causing unnecessary havoc for those doctors and the American hospitals that are depending on them," said Meng. "This ineffective approval process must be improved so that these doctors can enter the U.S. as planned, and provide the critical medical care needed in many communities throughout the country," she said. "As American hospitals face doctor shortages, this important legislation will increase healthcare access across the country by eliminating the persistent backlog of J-1 visas," said Emmer. "By improving oversight and training at U.S. embassies we can ensure our Foreign Service Officers have all the tools they need to properly process each application in a timely manner," he said.

"This bipartisan bill doesn't just address issues important to the State Department and the applicant; it will also benefit the patients of underserved hospitals by giving them access to medical care when they need it most," Emmer added. With over a million doctors, the U.S. has 24 doctors for 10,000 persons. Some of the speakers at AAPI’s Legislative Day included Rep. Jo Heck, Rep. Mark Tocar, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Parag Mehta, Rep. Ed Royce, Chirag K. Shah, Rep. Joe Wilson, Dr. Janak Joshi, Rep. Ken Buck, Dr. S. Shivangi, Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep. Andy Barr, Rep. Doug Lamor, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Barbara Comstock, Rep. George Holding, Rep. John Mica, Dr. Steve Sack, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Amata Radewagen.

“AAPI has been in the forefront in bringing many burning health care issues facing the community at large and bringing this to the Capitol and to the US Congress,” said Dr. Sudhir Sekhsaria, Chair of AAPI Legislative Affairs Committee.

Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, President of AAPI, while summarizing the deliberations during the daylong event on Capitol Hill, said, “AAPI has once again succeeded in bringing to the forefront the many important health care issues facing the physician community and raising our voice unitedly before the US Congress members. And  we were able to discover our own potential to be a player in shaping the health of each patient with a focus on health maintenance than disease intervention and to be a player in crafting the delivery of health care in the most efficient manner as well as to strive for equality in health globally.”

For more information on AAPI’s the Legislative Day initiatives, please visit:   http://www.aapiusa.org/



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Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, President of AAPI, presenting a plaque of appreciation to Rep. Ed Royce


Some of the AAPI delegates during the AAPI’s Annual Legislative Day and Reception on Capitol Hill


Rep. Steny Hoyer addressing the AAPI delegates on Capitol Hill


Dr. Sudhir Sekhsaria, Chair of AAPI Legislative Affairs Committee, and Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar greeting Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

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