(First lady Michelle Obama says the current state of health care in the U.S. is "Unacceptable" and women have an important role to play in changing that.)
(Is the First Lady Pres. Obama's secret weapon?)
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First Lady Michelle Obama: Reform is Women's issue
On the rare day when President Barack Obama had no public events scheduled, first lady Michelle Obama had the stage to herself on the health care front, pitching insurance reform as a women's issue in her strongest statements on the contentious debate so far.
Straying frequently from her prepared remarks to speak off the cuff, Obama said that in the health insurance debate, women and families are "the face of the fight."
Using personal stories from her own life — her daughter Sasha's meningitis scare, her father's struggle with multiple sclerosis — Obama said that women are "disproportionately affected by this issue because of the roles we play in our families."
"Women are affected because of the jobs we do in this economy ... Women are more likely to work part-time, or work in small businesses, jobs that don't always provide health insurance," she said. "Women are affected because in many states, insurance companies can still discriminate because of gender."
Obama, a former hospital administrator, said her husband's plan would help "achieve true equality for women."
The first lady echoed many of the points the president has made, calling his approach "a pretty reasonable plan," that would result in "good medicine and good economics."
"Under this plan, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop your coverage when you get too sick, or refuse to pay for the care you need, or set a cap on the amount of coverage you can get," she said. "And it will limit how much they can charge you for out-of-pocket expenses. Because getting sick in this country shouldn't mean that you bankrupt."
The speech marked Obama’s most high-profile foray into promoting her husband’s top legislative priority, which was sharply controversial over the summer. The White House clearly hopes that some of Michelle Obama’s personal popularity can help build public support for the reforms.
At her speech at the Old Executive Office building next to the White House, Michelle Obama was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who said, quoting Ronald Reagan, said that the status quo was unacceptable and that the time for reform is now.
"If victory were not so close, people would be a little calmer, [but] the legislative process is underway," she said. "We can have health insurance reform this year."
Sebelius blamed insurance companies for charging women more for premiums, a theme Obama touched on as well.
Recent polls show that women under 50 are more likely to support the president's approach to health insurance reform.
Three women at the event talked about juggling health scares with high premiums. Obama said that "more than half of women report putting off needed medical care because they can't afford it."
"This current situation is unacceptable. No one in this country should be treated this way. It’s not fair. It’s not right. These are hard working folks we're talking about," Obama said, casting the debate in moral terms. "This is a ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ kind of problem. None of us are exempt. Ever."
Obama said that "now more than ever it is time to act," telling the audience activists and supporters that it’s time to stake their claim.
"We can't watch the debate take on a life of its own, we have to channel our passions into change," she said. "... we have to be fired up and ready to go."
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