J-1 BILL PASSES IN HOUSE

I just received word that the House passed HR 5771 by voice vote. So now on to the Senate.

HOUSE CONRAD 30 EXTENSION BILL ADVANCES

The House of Representatives has voted to place on suspension a bill authorizing a five year extension of the Conrad 30 J-1 waiver program as well as a doubling of FLEX slots to 10 per state from the current five. The bill still needs to pass on the House floor, but the odds are now quite good that this will happen. The Senate then needs to pass a bill and to the extent there are differences, the two must agree and then re-vote on the compromise language.

AHA ENDORSES WEXLER-SENSENBRENNER NURSE VISA BILL

According to the American Hospital Association's AHA News:

The AHA and American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration Friday expressed support for H.R. 5924, legislation to alleviate the nation’s growing shortage of nurses. In a letter to sponsors Reps. Robert Wexler (D-FL) and James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the groups said, “Your bill will help address our current domestic shortage by providing an exemption from current employment-based visa caps for nurses. It also helps address domestic supply by establishing a program to help prepare more nurse educators.” U.S. hospitals had more than 116,000 registered nurse vacancies last year, and the Department of Health and Human Services estimates the nation will need 2.8 million new nurses by 2020. In addition, nearly 150,000 qualified U.S. applicants were turned away from domestic nursing schools in 2006 due to a shortage of faculty and space. ASHHRA is an AHA personal membership group for human resource managers in hospitals and other health care facilities.

VA: H-1B PREVAILING WAGE RULES DON'T APPLY TO US

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a memorandum asserting sovereign immunity when it comes to having to abide by prevailing wage requirements for H-1B physicians. Physicians considering VA appointments beware. Dan Kowalski at Bender's has uploaded the memo and I've linked it here.

BIPARTISAN NURSE BILL INTRODUCED IN HOUSE

Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) have introduced H.R. 5924, the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. This bill has long been overdue. The US has a dire nursing shortage that is a serious threat to the nation's health care. Nurses lack a non-immigrant visa category and are now stuck in multi-year backlogs to get green cards.

I've been involved behind the scenes with advocacy work on Capitol Hill on this issue for several years and can tell you that an incredible amount of work by a number of people has gone in to producing this bill. And it is no small feat getting Congressman Sensenbrenner, known for being tough on immigration, to be a co-sponsor.

The bill will take nurses out of the green card caps until 2011 with a limit of 20,000 principle applicants per year. This means that nurses will not take green cards away from others currently queued up and if the green card recapture legislation I wrote about last week passes, removing nurses from the competition for those recaptured visas is even better news for those currently waiting on a green card.

Nursing unions and others concerned about training more US nurses will also be pleased with the addition of a $1500 fee in nurse immigration cases that will go toward nursing education initiatives to help make it possible the US to not be as reliant on foreign-born RNs. Employers in disaster areas or designated health professional shortage areas will be exempt.

One provision I like in the bill will allow nurses and doctors who go and work in impoverished countries after getting their green cards to get residency credit toward naturalizing.

Here's a copy of the bill. Download h.R. 5924.pdf

AHA: STUDY SHOWS COMING SHORTAGE OF GENERALIST PHYSICIANS

AHA News Now reports:

The U.S. faces an impending shortage of up to 44,000 generalist physicians to care for adults, according to a study published online today by Health Affairs. The study projects outpatient visits by adults will increase 29% between 2005 and 2025 as the population ages, while the number of generalists to care for them will increase only 11%. It calls for increased funding for residency positions, noting that the shortage could be alleviated if the nation annually produced four additional generalist graduates in each family and internal medicine residency program. It also calls for reimbursement reform to make the "medical home" model financially viable. The model uses teams of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to provide office, hospital and home care, assisted by telephone and e-mail consultations and electronic medical records.

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS WEIGH IN ON PROPOSED RULE TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGE HOW SHORTAGE AREAS ARE DETERMINED

Here's the link.