General Assembly’s ‘rural health’ bill could actually sink health care AND NCGOP political fortunes
They claim their masterpiece will “fix” an alleged “doctor shortage” in rural North Carolina by importing a bunch of docs from around the world. The imports won’t necessarily have to be held to the same training and regulatory standards American-trained and educated physicians are. In fact, one of the leading GOP sponsors of this legislation let the cat out of the bag: international groups like The World Health Organization (WHO) will have a whole lot more of a say on who gets to come to this country and practice medicine on us.
Legislators are scrambling to defend themselves on this legislation — which passed unanimously. We’ve been told that the members of both chambers got about 20 minutes notice of a vote on the final version — which included the controversial language about the foreign doctor imports.
We’re also hearing that at least three legislators listed as sponsors on the bill are now claiming they are not comfortable speaking in detail about the bill. WHY sponsor something you don’t fully understand and can’t explain?
Critics of the bill are being derided as “disinformation” distributors. Yet, no one in authority can produce an example of incorrect information about the bill that has been publicly published.
House and Senate leaders appear to be urging their members to stand firm in the face of serious public ire over the bill. Both chambers have distributed scripts to be used by legislative assistants in response to constituent calls, emails, and letters. (We’re told the Senate includes language in their *script* that suggests anyone in opposition to this bill – which only affects North Carolina – is also an opponent of Donald Trump. *Good luck with that.*)
The ladies at NC Political Tea are all over this story. If you’re not tuned in there, you need to be.
Worse Than California. Critics of the reporting on H67 are claiming their bill is no different than what other states are doing:
When you walk into a doctor’s office, an urgent care, or a hospital in North Carolina, you assume the physician standing across from you has passed the same rigorous U.S. exams as every other doctor in the country. You assume they’ve been held to the highest standards of training, safety, and ethics.
Starting in 2026, that assumption is no longer valid.
House Bill 67 (H67), passed in July, makes North Carolina the most lenient state in the nation when it comes to licensing foreign doctors.
Other states that have experimented with international medical graduates (IMGs) have imposed strict guardrails: multiple U.S. exams, long provisional periods, mandatory supervision, and tight oversight. North Carolina?
It enacted the weakest rules in America, leaving its patients exposed to both safety risks and national security threats.
Misleading Comparisons by Lawmakers
Some lawmakers have attempted to justify H67 by comparing it to policies in Florida and Arkansas. But those comparisons fall apart under scrutiny.
Both Florida and Arkansas require U.S. licensing exams, enforced probation periods, restricted countries, and robust oversight—protections North Carolina weakened or bypassed.
H67 is not in line with those models; it undercuts them. […]
Betraying American -trained medical professionals. Some are placing the blame for H67’s controversial language on TWO senators close to senator Phil Berger:
[…] HB67 began in the North Carolina House, cosponsored by two Republican physicians: Dr. Timothy Reeder of Pitt County and Dr. Grant Campbell of Cabarrus County.
Their original bill was focused narrowly on easing restrictions for doctors relocating from other states. Even in that version, the baseline remained intact: physicians would still need to complete U.S. residencies and pass U.S. qualification exams before practicing independently.
That changed in the Senate. Republican Senators Benton Sawrey of Johnston County and Jim Burgin of Lee County added a sweeping change.
Their new language opened the door for foreign-trained physicians to bypass the same rigorous requirements faced by American doctors.
When the bill returned to the House, Dr. Reeder urged colleagues to approve the Senate changes. He casually labeled the changes “international licensing modernizations.” He said “most changes to the bill had already passed the house,” but never explained to members that the bar had been lowered to allow foreign doctors to practice without U.S. residencies or traditional licensing exams.
Several House members now privately admit they had no idea what they were voting for. They relied on Reeder’s expertise and credibility as a physician, assuming the bill changes were minor technical fixes.
The political fallout could be severe. Many of the Republican representatives who voted for HB67 campaigned on an America First platform, echoing President Trump’s promise to put American workers and patients first, defending U.S. standards.
By voting for this bill, they did the opposite: pushing American-trained doctors aside while fast-tracking foreign practitioners under weaker criteria.
In rural and conservative districts where voters value protecting American jobs and fairness, this contradiction may come back to haunt incumbents at the ballot box.
What Real Solutions Look Like
Claim: “We don’t have enough doctors.”
Truth: We do — but they’re bottlenecked by funding and policy. In 2023, over 3,350 qualified U.S. graduates went unmatched in residency placement. That’s not a talent gap. That’s a political failure.Claim: “Foreign-trained doctors are just as good.”
Truth: The best can and do pass U.S. exams. HB67 is built to accommodate those who can’t. That’s where patient safety crumbles.Claim: “They’ll be supervised.”
Truth: In rural North Carolina, “supervision” often means a doctor available by phone, 40 miles away. That’s not protection. It’s paperwork.What would fix the real problem?
- Fund more residency slots for American grads
- Empower nurse practitioners to practice independently
- Expand rural training programs that actually retain doctors
North Carolina doesn’t need shortcuts. It needs standards. H67 is a bypass around safety, ethics, and common sense. […]
Raleigh is supposed to be “representing” us and our best interests. Stuff like THIS is all about representing the gang that fills your pockets with cash. Despite the public outcry, Raleigh is battening down the hatches and preparing to fight the *great unwashed* outside the belt-line.
Primaries are coming in March. They want to fight. Let’s give them a fight.
“DR” Reeder is a cohort and fellow supporter of “DOC” Murphy from Gv. BOTH has shown their republican party affiliation to be ANYTHING BUT conservative!
PLEASE post names of those supporters of this bill from the gop.
And, the fact BCBS has purchased a large number of health facilities and urgent cares, care to guess WHERE these WHO supported ‘docs’ will practice? WHO was a huge proponent and supporter of the COVID vaxxes, to include babies. What person in their right mind is listening to any recommendation from them?
These sellouts can hold firm all they want. They need to be named and primaried out as soon as expedient. And Doc Reeder NEEDS to be the 1st to go.
Being a republican in this state is becoming harder each day. The Whatley/Tillis fiasco is just another ‘showing’ of how the gop in NC operates and who they are emboldened to. It’s NOT their conservative base.
Rural eastern NC residents better find other doctors in the larger cities and investigate their doctor. Rural NC doctors and BCBS clinics will be trainees in training, at best, or worse.
We HAVE to burn this gop down……
Given the plunge of US medical schools into wokeness, are we that certain that US trained physicians are all that trustworthy any more? Likewise with the training of other medical personnel such as nurses, etc., who do not seem to be able to function without carrying around their laptops from which they can scarcely withdraw their attention as they “interview” and “examine” patients (and one never seems to get the information taken by the other, so the interviews are endlessly repetitive). The schools’ eagerness to pump out as many graduates as they can as quickly as they can also does not leave me feeling very reassured.
I received a forwarded email from a buddy on this topic, watched some videos and then I googled it. The good news is this DID NOT come an insurance company. This idea came from a conservative think tank in Texas (“The Cicero Institute”) and has been floating around for a number of years. Stephen Garrison is the CEO. He was a big George Bush guy and served as Special Assistant to President Bush for Domestic Policy, Cicero is funded by Joe Lonsdale, an entrepreneur who is reportedly a billionaire.
I choose my own doctors. I am not going to be treated by someone if I am uncomfortable.
Links below:
https://ciceroinstitute.org/research/cutting-the-american-physician-shortage-with-international-doctors/
https://ciceroinstitute.org/people/stephen-garrison/
https://ciceroinstitute.org/people/joe-lonsdale/
Joe Lonsdale is co-founder of Palantir with Peter Thiel, and created University of Austin with Bari Weiss and others. Cicero Institute is recipient of Koch Brothers’ funding. Cicero Institute’s Adam Meier wrote “HB 67 is a testament to what is possible when smart policy is informed by data. It is a strategic, non-zero-sum solution that bolsters our health care workforce, protects the pipeline for US-trained doctors, and channels skilled professionals to the areas where they are needed most. By enacting this law, North Carolina is taking a significant step towards a healthier future for all its citizens.” https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/hb67-a-smarter-path-to-a-healthier-nc/
I think this memory is from sometime in the early to mid 60s. My mother who was a 1943 graduate of Park View Hospial nursing school in Rocky Mount was not impressed when she heard about the on site nursing schools being absorbed by the colleges. Now days its easy to see why she felt that way.
I have this question? Why in 1996 did the U S Congress vote to LIMIT the number of Med doctors in the U S?
This law is the Trojan Horse for the Islamification of North Carolina as most of the approved countries from which these so-called doctors come are majority Muslim. The “doctors” come here, pop a kid, bring 70 + kin to Jones County and bingo little Mogadishu in five years. Think I am kidding? See Minnesota, Maine and yes Texas.
Bill co-sponsors Erin Pare and Vickie Sawyer might want to have a chat with the girls in their life about female genital mutilation, eh?
The depth of betrayal by the NCGOP is staggering beyond words. Not one, ZERO, said “wait a minute.. what are we doing.” Let that sink in.
We do not loathe these people enough.