ACNM Invited to First Lady's Health Care Reform Discussion

This morning, ACNM Executive Director Lorrie Kaplan attended a White House event hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama designed to call attention to the deficiencies in our current health care system for women and their families.

“Women are being crushed by the current structure of health care,” said Obama. “If you're not experiencing it yourself, you know someone who is. This is why we are fighting so hard for health care reform. I invited this particular group of family advocacy groups and health care advocacy groups here today because your organizations have been fighting for decades for the empowerment of women.”

Obama recalled two particular incidents in which her family was affected by the US health care delivery system and aided by the health insurance they carried.

"This is very much a women's issue," she asserted. “The current system is unacceptable. We have to reform this system because it is holding women and families back.”

The bottom line? “When you're fighting an illness, you should not have to fight your insurance company at the same time. Getting sick should not mean that you will go bankrupt.”

ACNM has strongly supported health care reform as one of its top federal legislative priorities of this Congress. Read more about ACNM's federal legislative activities .