Trump hikes H1B medical doctors` pay by 40% |
India is one of the biggest sources of doctors under the H1B visa scheme for many US hospitals. Indians account for two-thirds of the 85,000 H-IB visas granted annually. Now, the Trump administration`s new rules have hiked by 40 % the minimum salaries to be paid to doctors and others coming to America on H-1B visas. This surely will have a big impact on US hospitals` ability to hire physicians and specialists from abroad, especially India. The US decision came on October 8, via a Department of Labor (DoL) Interim Final Rule (IFR) that mandated that minimum wages to be paid to H-1B workers be higher by 40% on average. Aimed primarily at protecting American jobs by curbing the number of skilled professionals in technology sectors, the rule also applies to medical professionals. Prevailing wages will be skyrocketing, which will certainly affect both not-for-profit H-1B sponsors such as hospitals as well as general business sponsors. A study by the National Foundation for American Policy has found that in some cases the hike will double the minimum payable wage .for doctors. The biggest impact would be seen in smaller towns and rural clinics, several of which are started by Indian doctors. According to data from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, there are over two hundred and twenty-two thousand Indian-origin doctors in the US. This amounts to almost 20% of all doctors in the country and about a quarter of all international medical graduates employed in the US.
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