为了表彰学生公开信大赛的获奖者，我们将刊登他们的作品。这封信的作者是16岁的伊莎贝尔·金（Isabelle Kim）。
Dear health insurance companies,
Ever since I was young, I’ve been scared of spring. Not in a T.S. Eliot-inspired “April is the cruelest month” type of way, but in a more practical sense — for as long as I can remember, I’ve had debilitating allergies to all types of pollen.
In many ways, I’m fortunate. I have health insurance through my mother, which allows me to undergo allergy tests every spring. Doctors use those tests to create my allergy shots, which progressively reduce my allergic reactions; typically, after six months of shots, I’m able to go outside without too many adverse symptoms. Although both tests and shots are uncomfortable, I am grateful and aware that this is not a privilege that all Americans have.
27.5 million Americans, in fact. That’s the number of uninsured people in the United States, largely due to health care costs. And as climate change accelerates, the peak of allergy season comes earlier and stays longer. Without health insurance, allergy tests are prohibitively expensive: $60 to $1,000 per test, with shots that cost thousands of dollars every year. In addition, for allergy shots to be properly effective, one needs to get them for three to five years. For many Americans, this just isn’t feasible.
You might be thinking: What’s the big deal about allergies anyway? You might be surprised to learn that up to 1 in 20 American adults experiences anaphylaxis — a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that requires immediate hospitalization — and the number continues to rise as the spring season lengthens. This is something I experienced firsthand when I visited South Korea this winter. My throat swelled dangerously on multiple occasions, and after three lengthy hospital visits, we realized that my previous allergy shots didn’t work for the different pollen in South Korea.
The cost of getting an allergy test and shot in Korea? $47.
There’s something wrong with a health care system that allows companies to charge thousands of dollars for something that other countries sell for the cost of a takeout dinner. I’m not saying that we should put profit aside entirely; I also understand that the health care system is going to be difficult to overhaul. But there is a scientific precedent for putting people over profits: Jonas Salk. After famously refusing to patent the polio vaccine, he was asked by a reporter who should own the patent. “Well, the people,” he said. “Could you patent the sun?”
I believe the same could be said about spring.
Sincerely,
Isabelle Kim
Works Cited
“Allergy Shots.” Cleveland Clinic, 9 Aug. 2023.
“Anaphylaxis Statistics.” Allergy and Asthma Network, April, 2026.
Briones, Elizabeth M., and Robin A. Cohen. “Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January–June 2025.” National Center for Health Statistics, January 2026.
Rosello, Patricia. “How Much Does an Allergy Test Cost With and Without Insurance?” Premier Allergy TX, 30 April 2025.
Zimmer, Carl. “Springing Forward, and Its Consequences.” The New York Times, 13 April 2014.
