AHA says revised H-1B selection process could hinder hospital efforts to address workforce shortages

The AHA commented Oct. 24 on the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed weighted selection process for registrants and petitioners participating in the H-1B lottery process. The proposed policy would replace DHS’ current process of random selections with one based on wage levels, where DHS would assign greater weight in H-1B selections to petitions at higher wage levels. The AHA said the revised policy could hinder hospitals from using the program to address health care worker shortages and hamper access to care. The AHA recommended that DHS automatically assign the highest weight in the selection process to occupations under medicine and health categories.