Had an interesting conversation with my father this morning.
My Dad is an ex-marine, ex-fire fighter, and retired detective of 25 years. He's at home recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his rotator cuff; it's his third surgery in five years. He's scheduled to have his knees done as well.
I call him this morning to see how he's doing, and it occurs to me that he must be paying a fortune to have all these surgeries. "Hey, Dad," I ask him, "what are you paying for all these surgeries? You must be broke by now!"
"Nothing," he replies.
"Are you kidding me?" I ask while perusing the notice that tells me I will be paying $800 out of pocket at our next neurologist's appointment for my autistic daughter.
My Dad was a cop in the good old days, where you got a fat pension when you retired and healthcare benefits for life.
"Well, I have to pay a $250 copay for surgeries, but the Department (the Police Department) reimburses me for it."
"Wow, that's great, Dad," I comment as I open another form from the school which must be filled out by a physician, which the pediatrician charges me $20 to fill out, multiplied by my three kids.
I tell him about our woes with insurance, and he says, "Well, with this reform that Obama is going to pass, things'll be better."
Insert stunned pause. "Oh?" I comment. "It sounds like you have things pretty good right now, are you concerned about paying for healthcare?"
"Well, the town has to vote from time to time on this issue, and it's just a matter of time before the town votes to cut funding to pay for retirement benefits for old timers like me. Plus, your Uncle Warren just called to say he's giving up his insurance. They have to pay $35,000 a year for insurance since your aunt had breast cancer a few years back and they've been self-employed their whole lives. They just can't afford it anymore. I really hope Obama fixes this, because it's a mess out there."
The moral of my story: if hard-boiled ex-detectives with good health coverage support Obama and healthcare reform, then A LOT of people who you might not think support health care reform.