America’s health care system is working out how to function with fewer immigrants and an aging population—it’s not going particularly well

Occupational therapist Mary Tappan (L) helps a patient to a physical therapy session at the Lifelong Medical Marin Adult Day Health Care Center on February 10, 2011 in Novato, California. (Credit: Justin Sullivan—Getty Images)

• America’s health care system is straining under the twin pressures of an aging population and a stretched pool of health care providers. Doctors told Fortune that policies limiting skilled visas and student entries could deepen labor shortages in areas such as geriatrics and rural medicine, where immigrant staff have long filled gaps. Physicians urge clearer pathways for skilled workers to stay, warning that without them, the system’s capacity to care for older Americans may falter. On the other hand, changing priorities for the American populace may prompt policy changes to address rising demand for certain medical specialties.

When Dr. Brian Moraes opened his practice in Boca Raton, Fla., he was following in the footsteps of his physician parents and grandfather, a Bombay-based general practitioner. Moraes hoped to do what the vast majority of those in health care set out to: help patients.