I suffer from a health care affliction I call “Shopper’s Block.” While I can travel about or surf the Internet and buy a wide range of goods and services from all over the world – and am at liberty to sell my own services anywhere – I must limit my choice of health care insurers to Maine.

Why is that? Does anyone else think that this goes against the grain of American capitalism? Shouldn’t we be allowed to shop for the best health insurance product the same way we can shop for car, home or life insurance?

Right now, Maine residents pay some of the highest premiums in the country, while our New Hampshire neighbors enjoy some of the lowest. Isn’t that strange?

I was happy to see that one candidate in this November’s election has a plan to address this. Charlie Summers, seeking the U.S. Senate seat, wants to allow businesses and individuals the right to shop for the lowest-cost insurer anywhere in the country – and to make the cost of this insurance deductible on the individual’s income tax. Doesn’t that make sense? Perhaps his work with the Small Business Administration showed him how sensitive this issue is to those of us who do not have a big company paying our way.

In any event, I hope he succeeds. Then those of us suffering from “Shopper’s Block” can find relief from the pain this affliction is causing.

Barbara Birmingham

Freeport