Michelle Obama Makes Health Care Reform Appeal As A Woman And A Mom (VIDEO)

In a new video on the official White House blog, Michelle Obama invokes her role as a woman and mother to make the case for health insurance reform.

In the video, the First Lady shares a personal story about her daughter Sasha's meningitis, saying, "If we hadn't had insurance, if we couldn't afford a doctor... Our daughter could have lost her hearing, or possibly even her life."

The White House video entry also includes a personal story from cancer survivor Roxi Griffin, who even with insurance was left with thousands of dollars in medical bills from her life-saving treatment. Kathleen Sebelius explains that a lot of "women have pretty good health insurance coverage for them and their families, until they get sick."

Michelle Obama's passionate argument concludes with a familiar message about health care reform: "If you already have insurance that you like, you keep your insurance. This plan just puts in place some basic rules to protect you from abuses and unfair practices."

"Barack's plan is about ensuring that everyone in this country can care for their families, and follow their dreams, and have the chance to make of their life what they wish," she adds.

WATCH:

Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[rgilley]

01:29 PM on 10/31/2009

I am an impatient Obama supporter, so I do critasize the President alot. But he sure has one classy lady for a wife.

[jws2346]

02:17 PM on 10/26/2009

Yeah, maybe I am a little infatuated, but it's in the respectful way. What I want to know, after watching this very intelligent and very beautiful woman, how anybody could vote against Health insurance reform. Do these "blue dog" Democrats and Republican law makers need hearing aids and/or glasses?

[Kevins]

07:09 AM on 10/26/2009

Wow, is she wonderful.

And God bless that woman with health who is having to forego exams for her cancers.... Pray that she doesn't have another cancer undetected while she can't afford the tests.

[Gonzaloo]

07:07 AM on 10/26/2009

President Barack Obama is an Excellent President. (And it’s still early in his presidency) The negative gripping is short sighted and immature if not down right silly. We the progressives are all fighting a well established malevolent system that has been in place since the “conservative era” from Reagan to Bush. (Racism , Misogynism, Gay Bashing, Religious Rightism, you name it they did it) That's 30 years of rotten policy, Prez O can’t change it all in just a few months!

Remember lots of bad people want to see Barack ( and the progressives) fail.
Back Barack, (don’t nitpick) Help him bring about the Change!

Now Congress please do your job...PUBLIC OPTION (No triggers,Opt Out is a Cop Out)

[freedomthrutruth]

12:24 PM on 10/26/2009

Your plea for all of us to support Barack Obama in his lackluster effort; falls on deaf ears for a number of important reasons: 1) Obama in his first nine months as president has failed miserably in his support for the people; 2) instead, he has chosen to strengthen considerably the investment banks, the banking industry in general, the insurance companies at the expense of the American people, as well as bailout the criminal auto companies.

Unfortunately, these corporations have become the people's enemies as they continue to increase prices and fees even during recessionary times when they know the people's coffers are virtually empty. This of course amounts to theft. If Obama is allowing himself to be held hostage by these corporations that steal from the people, then how can he expect our support?

[jws2346]

02:26 PM on 10/26/2009

Whaaat! Pleading, I din' see no pleading, maybe we watched different clips. I agree with you, Pres Obama has done some disappointing things, but I fail to see how you saw Mrs Obama as pleading? Besides he's better than a do nothing but be a dictator like the last POTUS.

[masher]

01:42 AM on 10/26/2009

Ok, but there isn't anything called "Barack's plan". The bills in play are being changed in committee right now. We don't know what the final bill(s) will have in them. There is a good chance that we will get something like Bush passed in 2003, the fiscally irresponsible Medicare Part D. That plan was pure corporate welfare.

Given what we have seen so far from President Obama, more and more billions and trillions (PPIP) for the super rich, we need to be cautious. The President hasn't even ended the worst of the worst of the Bush era anti-worker regulations. One of the reasons we have so much unemployment is federal intervention in the US labor markets(example, H-1B regulations).

I think we all just need to be careful of President Obama. He hasn't given us any sign that he is on our side. But there are plenty of signs he is on the side the corporations.

[Mij13]

02:11 AM on 10/26/2009

A lot of typing, and not an honest word.

[ggranny]

07:33 AM on 10/26/2009

Wow! what world do you live in?

[Weirdwriter]

01:33 AM on 10/26/2009

My local newspaper had stories about women who had been refused insurance coverage because they had C-sections, although otherwise healthy. Of women refused coverage for mammograms. In my state, women are generally charged higher insurance premiums than men of the same age and health.

Which the insurance industry is allowed to do because it is the only other U.S. business -- besides major league baseball -- that is not covered by anti-trust rules. So private insurers can collude with each other on who can do business where, on prices and services.

Hope Congress can finally put an end to this unconscionable grave train.

[Mij13]

01:20 AM on 10/26/2009

Michelle always makes me feel proud, but this was a very strong presentation. I hope it helps counter the lies the insurance industry is promoting.

[Cyndy Keith]

10:44 PM on 10/25/2009

This whole subject upsets me. I am so tired of people in the news having all the answers about why people are not healthy anymore. Mark Twain said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them". He was right on. Let us identify the time period exactly when the nation's overall weight began to rise. I am guessing you will find out that it began in the 80's, with steady increases since then. Next: let's look at other changes that occurred at the same time.

Microwaves became common in every kitchen;

People began working longer work days and weeks, with shorter lunchbreaks;

Government allowed huge budget cuts in school lunch programs;

Government mandated that fast-food restaurants change the oil they were using to one that is "supposedly" heart-healthy;

There are so many changes to our food since the 80's that I can't believe it got past us. Very little chocolate in chocolate; vegetable oil is all soybean; soy filler in food has risen; does anyone see a pattern? Each one of my points plays a huge part in our overall weight gain.

I like you Michele, but you sure picked a sore subject to be your first lady thing. Maybe you could work on returning our healthy living environment back to us, and then our bodies would naturally respond?

[Mij13]

12:46 AM on 10/26/2009

If you remember, they also began irradiating produce. I am not sure if they're still doing that, but it was a ridiculous scam that was really a way of getting rid of radioactive waste. I was working for a grocery store at the time called Bread and Circus. It's been bought out by Whole Foods since. I had to go to a workshop the company had for all it's produce managers. The woman who lead the workshop told us that irradiation was a "great" idea, because, as she said, "When you think about it, a lot of this stuff (produce) comes out of the ground." She said this with a disgusted look on her face, as if this was a good reason to put the most important part of our diet at risk. Our fruits and vegetables have always come out of the ground, idiot! I felt like yelling at her. But that was the "common wisdom" back then, if you can believe it.

[Cyndy Keith]

02:24 AM on 10/26/2009

I do remember. I also remember that in the 70s, when I was in high school, I was lazy, skipped PE, and ate a fast food places 3 to 5 times a week. So did my friends, although they weren't all lazy! We didn't have weight problems then, and neither did our parents, who also ate fast food, probably at least twice a week. And surprise to kids today - McDonalds fries were better then than they are now. The odor that comes from them now as they begin to cool down is enough to turn my stomach. I blame the government for their interference in the products the f.f. places have to use. It didn't make anyone healthier. And don't get me started on soft drinks! They used to use sugar, and had less calories and more taste. I don't know if the gov. had a hand in that one.

[Lovepolitics2008]

11:57 AM on 10/26/2009

I agree with you that there is much to do about the living envionment. If it may encourage you, it seems that Michelle IS preoccupied with this also.

Don't forget she made a vegetable garden at the White House and is using this as a teaching tool.

I suggest that you watch this video of a speech she recently gave at the White House; she's accompanied by the Secreatary of Agriculture.

http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse#p/u/9/jqbuJngahdI

[Cyndy Keith]

02:27 PM on 10/26/2009

I really don't have anything against what Michele is trying to do. I sound like a grump sometimes, but I just hate that our children can't go out and play after school because Mom has to work, can't walk home from school without risk, and if they want a snack after school, they generally use microwavable food, because Mom doesn't want them cooking on the real stove in case of fire... And although this is life now, what we have to deal with everyday, we still have media calling them "fat and lazy", government people and media doctors trying to make parents feel guilty over what they are doing to their kids. Most parents have to work (if they are lucky enough to have jobs) a job and a half, and still don't make enough money to pay for healthy food, or good after-school daycare.
This I do blame the free trade people for, not people immigrating here for a better life. The government allowed business to stop treating workers with respect. So we work incredible hours, and we stop for fast food on the way home. We are too tired to do anything else. We even look forward to payday, because we want to cook at least on decent meal a week. Being lazy is not our problem. Being tired and feeling hopeless is. And I still maintain that fast food in the 60's & 70's was not as unhealthy as it is today.

[FrozenNorthObserver]

08:35 PM on 10/25/2009

Perhaps if her husband quit trying to stymie real reform for Big Health (from which he took a record $20mil) there might be better chance of having a workable healthcare system.

[Weirdwriter]

01:27 AM on 10/26/2009

No evidence, as usual from a chronic kneejerk anti-Obama/Democrat/liberal/public option poster.

[ilse]

07:41 AM on 10/26/2009

FrozenNorthObserver,

Can you back up the stupid comment you just made with proof? Your proof has to come from a reliable source and not faux fox news. Another rightwing rabid dog spreading lies.

[rollingdivision]

07:36 PM on 10/25/2009

What a load of horse hockey. The obamas wouldn't have taken their child to the doctor if they didn't have insurance? They wouldn't have taken her to the ER? Really, I don't believe either for a second. If anyone wants to make the case that the obamas wouldn't have gotten their daughter to a doctor in order to avoid a $125 doctor's office visit please do. And then make the case that they wouldn't have taken her to the ER to save maybe a $300 ER charge.

[Mij13]

01:23 AM on 10/26/2009

You haven't been paying attention if you really don't know that thousands of families go broke every day because of medical costs. Of maybe you're from another country?

[Weirdwriter]

01:28 AM on 10/26/2009

You must have health care via the VA or something. Because you've clearly not had to pay out-of-pocket costs wholly on your own at a doctor's office recently, let alone an ER.

[rollingdivision]

06:54 PM on 10/25/2009

I used to hate the poor and want them to die so that all my rich friends could use their bodies as mulch for their diamond ranches. But now, after hearing Michelle's appeal, I'm so totally for giving politicians complete control over every life or death medical treatment decision of 325 millions US citizens! I'm sure we will benefit from the same sort of political statesmanship we see throughout Washington today.

[Mij13]

01:25 AM on 10/26/2009

What we see throughout Washington today is the result of too little government and too much deregulation.

[Mij13]

02:15 AM on 10/26/2009

What we see throughout the country, I meant to say.

[mairs]

01:43 AM on 10/26/2009

Well, since politicians wouldn't be providing my health care, I'm happy to say they wouldn't be providing yours either.

[LorettasBaby]

06:44 PM on 10/25/2009

Well done First Lady. Keep up the good work and continue to ignore the stupid people who are so full of hate.

[ohmetoo]

08:51 PM on 10/25/2009

Have you seen the "Save the Tatas" bumper stickers? Pretty cute!

[Ameriki]

05:27 PM on 10/25/2009

At least we have one Obama speaking up for us. Michelle for president!

[ilse]

07:55 AM on 10/26/2009

The other Obama has been speaking up for us also, but you choose not to listen. He shouldn't have to repeat himself over and over again to those who refuse to listen.

[CherokeeGirl]

01:14 PM on 10/25/2009

Oh my gosh, the first lady has been inundated by a nasty tribe of trolls, I'm sure glad i arrived.

Michelle, thank you for making that video. I have a personal plea that Obama get his message straight with his whitehouse staff. We have pushed hard this year to make this a reality and we are closer than ever to really providing a solution.

Please tell Barack to come out strong for the public option soon, because the media and the "anonymous sources" are unermining the true message of reform, talking about useless triggers.

Thanks again, Michelle, we love you (disregard the trolls, they posts say it all about who they are)

[tnkeating]

07:15 PM on 10/24/2009

Come on Michelle your a lawyer with a six figure income and Barack is a Chicago Politician and you have the gall to tell us youu could not have afforded health care for your children, please! You lie. I have gone without many times so my children did not have too, and I have never made anywhere near the money you have so get real, some how I have always been able to pay the doctor with cash, maybe not all at once but they got paid in full.

[emrogers]

07:25 PM on 10/24/2009

Don't you think this is a little misdirected anger? Angry at Michelle but not the insurance companies that are bilking you out of money? Take a deep breath and think about it.

[tnkeating]

09:19 PM on 10/24/2009

I have no insurance, no one is bilking me of anything...........Yet. I am a self employed Artist and never been able to afford health insurance and in all likely hood will not be able to afford the penalty I will be forced to pay when all is said and done. I have no anger or ill will tword Michelle, I would like to have some truth from my leaders, I simply don't buy her story

[FrozenNorthObserver]

08:42 PM on 10/25/2009

or her husband who is helping them.

[yuhaniz]

09:01 PM on 10/24/2009

she is honest. sasha got sick in 2001. both her parents' income put together wasn't a 6 figure salary. both obamas had scholarship debt from princeton, columbia univs and both went to harvard. it was about $400,000 coz the interest kept it going up.

michelle didn't earn a 6 figure salary until 2005 earning twice what her husband did as a u.s. senator. they did the oprah, jay leno and letterman shows marketing his book in the process and by 2006 barack was a muti millionaire author. it was hard work all the way. bless them.

[tnkeating]

09:45 PM on 10/24/2009

Nice story, I worked my way through college for 10 years and had no debt when I graduated as loans were not availible to me. Of course I didn't go to harvard, that also was not availible to me, I have worked hard all my life, I own my home have put two kids through college and have been married for thirty four years, its still not easy. But I agree bless them, bless you and God bless America.