An Open Letter to My Congressman

Dear Congressman Salazar,

Right now I'm living in Brno, Czech Republic, where I am a doctoral student and I teach English. I have my health insurance plan through a provider in Gunnison; I am rather satisfied with it, though I must admit that I have no plans to use it.

I am concerned, however, that any reforms to the current US system will put my health insurance in jeopardy, since I am what you might reasonable call an unusual case. The state-run health insurance plans here in Europe generally do not allow for people to travel, and the health care system frequently actively discriminates against people (like me) with private insurance.

It would be a grave mistake to "reform" the health care system in America to make it look more like many European systems; that would actually lead to a lower quality of care.

One of the advantages of living abroad is that I was free to buy a plan regardless of my state. Perhaps reducing some of the barriers to competition, like state restrictions, would lower costs for Americans actually living in America as well.

In any case, I hope that whatever plan Congress comes up with will reduce the amount of bureaucrats (public or private) and increase the valuable relationships between doctors and patients. We have a great health care system for most people in America; it would be a pity to destroy it for an ill-conceived plan that rations care or discourages innovation. When making health policy, it might be appropriate to mention the Hippocratic Oath – "first, do no harm."

Yours,

Professor Starobrno