A Health Care Letter to the President

Mr. Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC  20001

Dear Mr. President:

I have a little problem.  My little problem, however, is part of a big problem – Health Care in America. It is a problem for all Americans.   I want to help you fix this problem. My individual experiences make me both passionate and uniquely qualified to help change health care in America to make our country a better place to live and work.

First, a short history of my little problem: I am a 49 year old American who moved to the UK ten years ago. I was a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of an international health care company, and I accepted an assignment in Glasgow, Scotland for a 6-months stint that somehow turned into ten years. While staying true to my American roots, I have enjoyed my stay in the UK and enjoyed a successful career – except for one little glitch when in 2005, I was diagnosed with tonsil cancer. Six months of intensive treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy) has been followed by three years of aftercare.  All of my care was provided efficiently and effectively by the wonderful, capable doctors and nurses working for the National Health Service (NHS) here in Scotland. In some ways, I consider myself fortunate that I was diagnosed with this terrible disease while in the UK where I had access to the NHS to provide care.

But, now my little problem: I would like to move back to the U.S., but cannot – because no insurance company will come near a cancer survivor like me.  So, every summer, I visit my family for two weeks, and every April 15th, I send the IRS a check for my U.S. taxes for the privilege of being a U.S. citizen. And I now wait until I am 65, when I will be covered by Medicare, to return to my home  – this, of course,  is fifteen years away.   This, Mr. President, is no way to run a country.

Ironically, since I have worked as a financial executive for various health care companies for over 20 years – I understand all too well why insurance and health care companies run the other way when they see me coming. As a cancer survivor, I am a big, fat financial liability waiting to happen.  I also know that there are ways I can “sneak” into the U.S. health care system by getting a job with an employer with an insurance plan or otherwise getting into a group plan and hoping that preexisting conditions do not trip me up sometime in the future.  But then again, I know those insurance underwriters are smart and vigilant (that is what they are paid to do); they are continually finding ways to exclude the high risk patients from their insured population. And even if I do get into an insurance plan, I would imagine the fine print of the policy would find a way to exclude me if I became a major liability.  So, is this really any way to live my life?  Is this really any way for anyone to live their life?  Is this any way to run the greatest country in the world?

So for now, I will remain here in the UK. I know the UK is not perfect, and it has its own health care issues. But I know one thing is certain – if I show up at the hospital in the UK diagnosed with cancer again, I will be treated, and I will not be financially ruined.  The peace of mind this gives me is more than enough reason for me to stay here in the UK until we solve our little health care problem in America.

As I said at the beginning, my little problem is really an American problem.  The real problem is that millions of other Americans who have similar or worse tales of woe and do not have a solution.  They come in all shapes and sizes. Someone gets ill and then loses his or her job and health insurance coverage, and someone’s illness is excluded from insurance because of the fine print in the policy, for example because of preexisting conditions that were either conveniently or inconveniently forgotten at the beginning of a policy. The circumstances are wide and varied.   Far too many people in America live in fear or ignorance of a health care event which can be catastrophic to themselves and their family.  The free market system of American health care has developed in to a multi-headed hydra which is designed more for making profits than for caring for the sick – or even keeping people from getting sick in the first place.

I am passionate about helping fix the problem.  I offer my services to you as cancer survivor, as an experienced financial executive, and as an American who wants to make the country a better place in which to live.  I will consider any role in your administration (or indeed anywhere in the U.S.) which will put me in a position to help fix health care in America.  I want to come home and help, but the irony is that I can’t come home until I get my health insurance sorted.

My compensation for providing such services is simple.  My compensation will be to once again live in a country where if I (or anyone) am diagnosed with cancer (or any major disease), I will be treated and I will not be financially ruined.  The peace of mind that comes with this end result will be more than enough reward for any service that I can provide.

Thank you for your consideration.

I remain a U.S. citizen, proud of America, and missing my home.

Warren McInteer

Glasgow

United Kingdom

P.S. I have written also written a two part series for Demockracy.com on the subject that goes into more detail regarding the problems and solutions of U.S. health care.  If you are so inclined, please look at these pieces and let us begin the work to fix American health care:

Health Care in America: A Time for Change

Health Care in America: A Way Forward