First Lady pitches health reform at breast cancer awareness event

First Lady Michelle Obama helped make the case for healthcare reform during a White House event Friday on Breast Cancer Awareness.

The First Lady said that the health reform proposals would lead the U.S. toward better prevention and treatment of breast cancer, a particularly deadly form of cancer to afflict women.

Obama cited the example of women who, after surviving breast cancer, had a difficult time getting health insurance, which was classified as a "preexisting condition," putting them at risk for costly treatments if they were to suffer a reoccurrence of the cancer.

"So I know that a lot of survivors like them are terrified," Obama said, referencing women in the audience who'd gone through similar situations. "They are living in fear of losing their jobs or changing jobs or even moving, because they worry they won't be able to find affordable insurance."

"That's why it is so critically important that we finally reform our health care system that is causing so much heartache for so many people affected by this disease," she added. "Now is the time."

The First Lady has emerged as a more visible proponent of healthcare reform, one of President Barack Obama's signature initiatives, over the past few weeks. She said that the disease afflicts not only women, but their families as well, and that passing legislation before Congress would ease prevention and treatment.

"So that's how health insurance reform will work," she said. "That's how it will help people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and those who've survived the disease. But first, we have to get it passed."

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