Telangana-origin doctors lobby as US bill aims at quick green cards for health workers

HYDERABAD: A bill under consideration in the US senate to fast-track green cards for healthcare professionals, has many Telugu-origin doctors busy lobbying with their local senators. The bill, which will be put to vote in the coming weeks, has a high chance of passing its first hurdle.
The legislation, the ‘Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act’ (S.3599/ HR6788) aims to ‘recapture’ 40,000 immigrant visas -- 25,000 for nurses and 15,000 for physicians -- from a quota which has not been filled in past years.These will be used to grant green cards to healthcare workers waiting for years.
The measure hopes to quickly address the shortage of doctors in the country which is facing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. Hoping to see the bill through are many doctors from India.
“Doctors are reaching out to their local senators to see that this bill passes,” said Dr Pavan Panchavati, senior hospitalist in Huntsville, Alabama. The Hyderabadi himself applied for a green card in 2010 and is still waiting after a decade. “The pandemic is a wake-up call regarding the shortage of healthcare workers. The bipartisan bill has seen both Republicans and Democrats come together for the right cause,” he said.
A report by the Green Card Backlog Task Force of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) suggests that there are over 10,000 physicians of Indian-origin waiting for a green card. Suresh Reddy, president, AAPI, said there were good chances of the bill going through, except for the issue of other professionals wanting to be included as well.
“The bill’s passage, could clear the Indian backlog of doctors and maybe provide an outlet for more nurses to enter the country,” said Rahul Reddy, an immigration attorney with Reddy & Neumann, P.C.
Panchavati says the added benefit of the bill is that once the Indian backlog for physicians is cleared, Indian IT professionals would have a better chance with reduced competition.
Dr Paavani Atluri, a hospitalist at Coos Bay, Oregon, says, not just Indians, but their American counterparts too are working hard to get as many senators on board. Explaining why the bill is so important, the doctor, who applied for a green card five years ago, said: “If you are on a visa such as the H1B, you are attached to just one hospital where you are employed. Having a green card gives physicians the flexibility to work at any hospital, which is needed during a pandemic as doctors can also help out in underserved areas.”