GME Transparency Act of 2026 + Our Doctors First Act of 2026
Introduced by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) · Also author of the ICE FROST Act and legislation to end the H-1B visa program
WHAT IT SAYS
A two-bill package that uses “transparency” language to advance an immigration crackdown on residency programs. H.R. 8942 would require hospitals to report the citizenship and immigration status of every resident. H.R. 8943 goes further: ban Medicare GME payments for any resident who is not a U.S. citizen or national — with hospitals facing a 25% funding cut on first offense, a $1M fine on a second, and exclusion from all GME funding for 5–10 years on a third.
WHERE IT STANDS
Introduced May 2026. No committee hearing scheduled. Steube is the author of the ICE FROST Act (a bill to increase pay for officers performing immigrant policing operations) and separate legislation to end the H-1B visa program, both introduced in the same legislative period.
THE PROBLEM
This is not transparency — it’s surveillance designed to purge international medical graduates from the physician pipeline. Foreign- born physicians make up 26% of the U.S. physician workforce and disproportionately serve underserved and rural communities. Defunding their training does not make medicine more equitable. It makes it more White.
Source: Migration Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, 2021.
THE CO-OPTATION RISK
Steube named his bill the “GME Transparency Act” deliberately — the same name Sen. Booker used in 2024, except for the year. The language is designed to contaminate the policy space that genuine GME accountability legislation occupies, and that creates real confusion for the public and for lawmakers.
Naming a surveillance bill after an accountability bill doesn’t make it one. This bill needs to die.
RELATED INSIGHTS
