Conrad 30 Physician Workforce Optimization Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4637

To increase by 5 the number of flex waivers available in each State for
 J-1 nonimmigrants and to establish a secondary physician match portal
 to assist alien physicians who are unable to find employment in their
   preferred State of residence to find employment in another State.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2026

  Mr. Cramer (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To increase by 5 the number of flex waivers available in each State for
 J-1 nonimmigrants and to establish a secondary physician match portal
 to assist alien physicians who are unable to find employment in their
   preferred State of residence to find employment in another State.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Conrad 30 Physician Workforce
Optimization Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASING THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF FLEX WAIVER ALLOWANCE SLOTS IN
              EACH STATE.

    Section 214(l)(1)(D)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1184(l)(1)(D)(ii)) is amended by striking ``10'' and inserting
``15''.

SEC. 3. SECONDARY PHYSICIAN MATCH PORTAL.

    Section 214(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1184(l)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4)(A) The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
        Services, after consultation with the heads of a representative
        sample of State Departments of Public Health, shall establish a
        portal for alien physicians who--
                    ``(i) have been granted the status of a
                nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(J)(i);
                    ``(ii)(I) have applied for a waiver of the 2-year
                foreign residence requirement under section 212(e), but
                were not selected by the State to which they submitted
                their application; or
                    ``(II) have sought to apply for a waiver of the 2-
                year foreign residence requirement under section
                212(e), but were unable to submit an application
                because the State's numerical cap had been reached, or
                applications were otherwise not accepted at the time of
                the attempted submission; and
                    ``(iii) request to be included in such portal.
            ``(B) Any State, or any employer located in such State,
        that has not filled all of its allotted waivers under paragraph
        (1)(B) for the current fiscal year may use the portal
        established pursuant to subparagraph (A) to access information
        about the credentials of potential alien physicians who may be
        interested in obtaining full-time employment as a primary care
        or specialty care provider in such State.
            ``(C) Information about international medical graduates who
        request to be included in the portal established pursuant to
        subparagraph (A) shall be included on an attestation form that
        is sent to an organizing body to facilitate the dissemination
        of such information to States with available waivers.
            ``(D) The Director shall establish a secondary match
        period, not to exceed 60 days, during which employers in States
        with available waivers for the current fiscal year can review
        and interview alien physicians included in the portal before
        March 1st of such fiscal year.
            ``(E)(i) The portal shall contain essential information
        contained in the alien physicians initial application to
        streamline the secondary application process for potential
        employers.
            ``(ii) Employers participating in the secondary application
        process shall certify that--
                    ``(I)(aa) their facilities are located in a health
                professional shortage area or in a medically
                underserved area; or
                    ``(bb) they are seeking an applicable flex waiver
                under section 214(l)(1)(D)(ii); and
                    ``(II) they have unsuccessfully advertised the
                position for which the alien physician will be hired.
            ``(iii) State departments of public health and prospective
        employers shall be provided access to the portal in order to
        identify potential alien physicians.
            ``(F) The Director, after consultation with a
        representative sample of State departments of health or related
        agencies, shall publish a set of best practices and core
        application requirements that--
                    ``(i) assist States in determining the sufficiency
                of waiver applications submitted for the secondary
                match; and
                    ``(ii) include the essential elements necessary to
                establish sufficiency and ensure a streamlined process
                for the secondary match applications.''.
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