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1.       Openers

Dear Readers:

After a hiatus, we resume publication of our health care newsletter this month and as you can see from the number of articles, there is much news to report. The major development, of course, since our last publication is the passage of a major health care reform bill this year that will extend insurance coverage to an estimated 30 million more Americans.

There are a number of immigration angles to this story. First, earlier this year, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson dramatically drew attention to the question of what eligibility illegally present immigrants will have for benefits under the new bill. The President told a joint session of Congress that such immigrants would not be eligible for benefits. Congressman Wilson yelled back to the President “you lie!” and this, of course, dominated the news for several days.

In fact, the President was telling the truth. Illegally present immigrants are not eligible for any benefits under the new law. Wilson and supporters later said they were talking about the punishment for people falsely claiming to be legal was not harsh enough which is hardly the same thing. Penalties were strengthened in response and that presumably has put the issue to rest. But this is a crazy, hyper-partisan age we live in so who knows?

The other question which has not garnered as much attention, but which is a very serious one is how exactly we’ll be able to provide health care to 30 million new people – the equivalent of the population of Canada – if we already have a severe shortage of doctors and other health care professionals. That question has largely been ignored by the legislation and the role immigration will play in providing these professionals has certainly not been addressed.

Of course, the future of health care reform is still up in the air with many questioning what impact a change in the leadership in either House of Congress could have on reform. That remains to be seen.

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In this issue, I’m including an article I’ve co-written with my colleague Elissa Taub that will hopefully help doctors who make one of the most critical choices in their American careers even before they arrive in the US – whether to seek an H-1B visa or  J-1 for training. For the last few years, the H-1B has been the clearly preferred visa. But is that really the smartest choice today? I hope the article provides food for thought.

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We also include in this issue an article summarizing the immigration options available to nurses. Nursing immigration presents numerous challenges and the number of immigrating nurses to the US has declined in recent years due to problems in immigration law despite an ongoing shortage.

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We remind readers that we do not charge employers and recruiters of health care employees for consultations and that policy extends to individual physicians as well. Please feel free to call our office at 901-682-6455 to arrange for an appointment with me or one of my colleagues.

Kind regards,

Greg Siskind

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.