Provider Workforce

The workforce signal for VBC stakeholders is centered on federal capacity: the American Hospital Association is pressing the Trump administration and Congress to fund FY2027 programs that strengthen the healthcare workforce, with particular emphasis on rural communities where staffing shortages directly constrain ACO attribution growth, access, care management, and hospital-at-home or primary-care transformation strategies (AHA funding request). At the same time, the Trump administration’s recent changes to Temporary Protected Status designations could reduce employment stability for some immigrant workers, with KFF warning of potential impacts on health coverage, access, and the healthcare labor pool—an immediate risk for Medicaid managed care plans, safety-net systems, and value-based providers already facing workforce-sensitive quality and utilization targets (KFF TPS analysis).