Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Action by the Trump Administration aimed at the tech industry’s use of H-1B visas is making it harder for rural providers to hire doctors, nurses, technicians and, other health professionals (Source: Rural Health Providers Could Be Collateral Damage From $100K Trump Visa Fee, Kaiser Health News, December 9, 2025).
The new $100,000 fee, part of a September proclamation by President Donald Trump, applies to workers living outside the U.S. but not those who were already in the U.S. on a visa.
Sixteen percent of registered nurses, 14% of physician assistants, and 14% of nurse practitioners and midwives who work in U.S. hospitals are immigrants, according to a 2023 government survey.
The American Hospital Association, two national rural health organizations, and more than 50 medical societies have asked the administration to give the healthcare industry exemptions from the new fee. The new cost will disproportionally harm rural communities that already struggle to afford and recruit enough healthcare professionals, the groups argue.
Data included in a recent Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) data snapshot on access to care for immigrants in Ohio shows that more than one in five physicians in Ohio is an immigrant.
According to KFF data, Ohio had 13,055 H-1B applications approved from 2009 to 2025, an average of 768 per year.
Last year, HPIO released a data snapshot detailing health in rural and Appalachian Ohio.