Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Immigration Ban Shakes Medical Industry That Relies Heavily On Foreign Professionals
President Trump鈥檚 temporary immigration ban聽could quickly undermine聽American health care,聽which relies heavily on foreign-born labor 鈥 including many workers聽from the Middle East 鈥 to fill critical gaps in care, industry specialists say. As many as 25 percent of physicians practicing in the US were born in another country. Rural clinics聽and public safety-net hospitals, in particular, rely on foreign medical school graduates to take care of聽isolated and vulnerable populations. (Ross and Blau, 1/30)
President Trump鈥檚 executive order on immigration has already had dramatic effects, and promises many more. Health care relies heavily on visa-holders: As many as 25 percent of physicians practicing in the US were born in another country. But thousands of scientists, students, trainees, and even patients are likewise reliant on visas to work, study, and receive health care in the US. (Sheridan, 1/31)
President Trump鈥檚 executive order on immigration could worsen the shortage of doctors in the United States, warns the Association of American Medical Colleges. 鈥淲e are deeply concerned that the Jan. 27 executive order will disrupt education and research and have a damaging long-term impact on patients and health care,鈥 AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch said in a statement Monday. (Hellmann, 1/30)
Teaching hospitals may have to drop residency offers to medical students from countries affected by President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration ban 鈥 a move that could exacerbate a shortage of doctors and limit patient care in underserved areas. The Association of American Medical Colleges has identified 260 applicants to U.S. residency programs who are from the seven countries covered by the ban. With the national residency match just 44 days away 鈥 in the midst of the 90-day ban 鈥 some programs may opt to deny slots to doctors who can't matriculate. One teaching hospital already has instructed its staff to cancel residency offers to medical students from some countries, an anonymous official told the Los Angeles Times. (Diamond, 1/31)
Some聽of the nation鈥檚 leading medical centers have identified more than three dozen聽patients who were scheduled to come to the United States to receive medical care from the countries subject to President Trump鈥檚 executive order on immigration. Johns Hopkins Medicine has found at least 11 patients who live in the Muslim-majority nations targeted by the immigration ban 鈥 Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen 鈥 and who were set to travel to the United States in the next 90 days for medical care. Another major health system, Cleveland Clinic, told STAT that it had nine patients scheduled to come to the United States for care from the affected countries. (Scott and Thielking, 1/30)
And the shock waves from the executive order reverberate through other areas of the industry聽鈥
Hospitals, medical research institutions and public universities expressed concern over the fallout of President Donald Trump鈥檚 executive action over the weekend that impacted immigrants from seven Middle Eastern countries. But several major organizations stopped short of sharply criticizing the order that sparked a series of protests at major airports across the country. The order signed by Trump on Saturday indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the United States and prevents other refugees from entering the country for 120 days. It also blocks citizens of several predominately Muslim countries 鈥 Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya 鈥 from gaining entry to the country for 90 days. Confusion ensued over the weekend as the administration appeared to flip-flop several times on key aspects of the policy, like whether legal residents with green cards were exempt from the ban. (Williams, 1/30)
Some of the nation鈥檚 leading health groups are concerned that the Trump administration action on immigration could hurt patients by blocking U.S. entry to health professionals or those seeking treatment. 鈥淲e are concerned that, without modification, President (Donald) Trump鈥檚 executive order on immigration could adversely impact patient care, education and research,鈥 said Rick Pollack, the president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. (McIntire, 1/30)
A native of Iran, Arina Yaghoubi, has battled leukemia聽since she was 14. While聽her disease was in聽remission, she left home to enter James Madison University in Virginia, only to have the disease return. Yaghoubi, 21, has been聽successfully treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with her mother by her side for the last nine months and is now cancer free. But聽with the ban President Trump has placed on immigrants from certain Middle Eastern countries, her mother is afraid to go home and聽her father can't enter the United States. (Moore, 1/31)
In the wake of President Trump's executive order on immigration, area hospitals are scrambling to assist and reassure medical staff without citizenship and foreign patients scheduled for treatment. Some are also speaking out on moral grounds against the order.St. Vincent Charity Hospital said the order "sends a message of intolerance" in direct conflict with the hospital's faith-based Catholic mission. (Zeltner, 1/30)
