Legislative Assembly to Pass 3 Bills Aimed at Keeping Doctors in Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly anticipated that lawmakers will pass three bills that would help ease the
shortage of doctors on the island.
New Progressive Party (NPP) Sen. Larry Seilhamer said a law enacted last December that granted physicians who work in Puerto Rico a special tax rate of 4 percent in their income taxes has done little to stop doctors from leaving in search of better opportunities in the mainland United States.
“We have to recognize that the effects of the atmospheric phenomena of Maria and Irma are factors that as of December 31, 2017 left us without that many doctors,” Seilhamer said.
On average, around 700 doctors leave the island each year, or at least two per day. In the eight years between 2005 and 2013, about 1,200 physicians and surgeons left for the continental U.S., according to the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.
Read more: http://www.sanjuanweeklypr.com/pdf/Aug-03-18/local.pdf (Page 3 of 6)