The Trump administration’s six-figure fee for high-skilled visa applicants threatens to worsen a shortage of US doctors and make it harder for rural hospitals to operate, medical groups warned.

The $100,000 fee for H-1B visas “risks shutting off the pipeline of highly trained physicians that patients depend on, especially in rural and underserved communities,” said American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala, a Michigan head and neck surgeon.

President Donald Trump added the fee for applications for the program in a proclamation Friday that roiled the technology industry and upended plans of highly educated foreign students. The White House clarified on Saturday that the new policy doesn’t apply to current visa holders.

Trump has said companies abuse H-1Bs to suppress wages,

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