I recently read on the Daily Kos about tailgating parties at the University of Miami. The purpose of these gatherings, which were populated by scantily clad models and fueled, like most tailgating parties, by alcohol, was to convince young people not to take advantage of the exchanges provided by the Affordable Care Act. Their argument evidently was that any government program is “creepy.”

The group that threw these parties was Generation Opportunity, which is funded by the Koch Brothers. The party in Miami was not unique either. According to ThinkProgress, “The group is touring 20 different campuses this fall in a $750,000 effort to convince college students that they’re better off being uninsured than getting health coverage through Obamacare.”

Of course, it is true that young people – and for that matter geezers like myself – are not required to sign up for affordable health insurance. They can instead pay a fine, and for that they get nothing.

It may be hard to believe, but I still have memories of when I was in my twenties. In the early part of my twenty-sixth summer I was full of spizzerinctum. Like all of my friends, I knew practically everything, and, for all practical purposes I was bullet-proof. The great shock came when we were playing basketball on asphalt. While streaking down the court I tripped, fell forward, broke my fall with my hands, and hit my right knee on the pavement about as hard as rapping one’s knuckles on a table. I let out a cry and rolled up my jeans. There was an abrasion on my knee – but no blood – and I was mercilessly jeered by my friends for stopping the game. I played on for a few minutes, but then my leg gave out, and by the time that I got home it looked like I had a grapefruit stuck halfway down my pants leg.

It turned out that I had broken my kneecap. Fortunately for me I was working for an insurance company at the time, and I had comprehensive health insurance. I may have paid something for the doctor visits, the ambulance ride, and the surgery, but it wasn’t much. Within a few months I was walking fine, and later that year I moved to Ann Arbor.

If I had not had insurance, my life would have changed dramatically. I could not have returned to school. I would have had to borrow a mountain of money to pay my medical bills. It would have taken me years to wipe out the debt.

Would I have purchased health insurance if it had not been part of my employment package? Of course not. In an informal survey I was once asked if I would prefer a raise in pay in exchange for the benefits. I voted for the cash. For the next two decades Sue and I sometimes had insurance and sometimes did not. It wasn’t until it became important for my company’s recruiting that we implemented a good health insurance plan.

* * *When my dad was almost twenty-four, he was greeted with an equally unexpected shock, my own birth. He was probably somewhat prepared for that event, but he did not expect to need to deal with a kid who, because he was born with a harelip, would require several rounds of surgery.

My dad also worked for an insurance company, and he had good benefits. I was therefore one of the first to take advantage of plastic surgery techniques to repair the condition. Everyone expected me to have a speech impediment, and I certainly would have without the top-drawer medical treatment. I can never remember having the slightest difficulty in communicating. In fact, I spent four years in high school and another four in college on the debate team. I could talk as rapidly and as clearly as anyone.

What would my dad have done if he did not have insurance? I honestly do not know. I am just very grateful that he was never faced with the choice of forgoing my medical care. I know that he and my mom had very little money at the time of my appearance. They were living in a house with my mom’s parents and my uncle, and they did not have a car, a TV set, or much in the way of furniture. I seriously doubt that they had a rainy day fund. They would have been in a very tough position.

I know this. Our family history would have been dramatically different if my father had not had such good health insurance.

* * *In short, I can confidently state that my life would not have been nearly as pleasant as it has been without health insurance at those two instances. I therefore am disgusted by the attempt of Generation Opportunity to persuade young people that they should run the risk of ruining their lives just to thwart the attempts of the Obama administration to improve the implementation of health insurance. I find the Koch Brothers and their ilk completely reprehensible. Certainly this law could be better, probably much better. As flawed as it is, however, it is better than nothing. The idea of getting young men drunk for these nefarious purposes is beneath contempt.

By the way, Miami, which was 7-1 at the time, was heavily favored in the game, but Virginia Tech beat them 42-24. Miami lost to Duke this last weekend as well and fell out of the rankings entirely.