Washington, Nov 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indian American physicians Ami Bera and Amish Shah will be among nine Democratic doctors in the next US House of Representatives, the American College of Gastroenterology said.
Bera, a California congressman and internist, and Shah, an Arizona congressman-elect and emergency physician, are part of a growing group of medical professionals entering Congress as Democrats prepare to make health care costs a priority in the new session.
The medical organisation's post-election review lists 20 physicians across both chambers of the 120th Congress, tying a record. Of those, 11 are Democrats, and nine are Republicans, it said.
The new Congress is due to convene in January.
The college's list includes three incoming Democratic physicians in the House: Shah, Richard Pan of California and Adam Hamawy of New Jersey. They will join Bera and Raul Ruiz of California, Kim Schrier of Washington, Herb Conaway of New Jersey, Maxine Dexter of Oregon and Kelly Morrison of Minnesota.
Bera and Ruiz have served in the House since 2013, while Schrier joined in 2019. Conaway, Dexter and Morrison took office in 2025, according to the organisation's tally.
Shah, a former Arizona state legislator, will represent the state's 1st Congressional District. His arrival will add another Indian American voice to the Democratic group of doctors in the House.
Across both chambers, the new Congress will have more Democratic than Republican physicians for the first time in decades, according to the college's research. It said Republican physicians accounted for the overwhelming majority of doctors in Congress between 2011 and 2020.
The college identified two incoming Democratic doctors in the Senate: Annie Andrews of South Carolina and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan. It said Andrews, a paediatrician, would be the first member of that speciality in the chamber, while El-Sayed holds a medical degree but did not complete a residency.
The college also listed seven Republican physicians in the incoming House and two in the Senate. Its count includes six new physician members across the two chambers, which it described as the largest such incoming class in more than a decade.
Health care affordability is expected to be a major issue for Democrats in the new Congress. The college said a House Democratic working group had identified priorities for 2027 that include reversing health care cuts in the 2025 budget law and strengthening and expanding Medicare.
Any legislation passed by the House would also need Senate approval and would generally go to President Donald Trump for his signature. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Bera, who represents a Sacramento-area district, earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of California, Irvine. Before entering Congress, he worked in medicine and served as Sacramento County's chief medical officer, according to his official biography.
The 120th Congress will begin in January 2027, following the November midterm elections. Bera and Ruiz were among the Democratic physicians who launched the Congressional Doctors Caucus in 2025.
Source: IANS
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