You read that headline and what first comes to mind? Someone speaking to those serving in a homeless shelter? Or maybe an address being delivered at an orphanage? Or what about someone looking to pump folks up at children's hospital?
If that's what you initially thought, you'd be a decent caring person with a huge heart... but... you'd be dead wrong:
With just weeks left to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, Michelle Obama zeroed in on recruiting the crucial young adult demographic during a visit to a Miami community health center Wednesday.
The first lady congratulated a handful of residents who had just enrolled during an intimate event, asking one woman whether she had gotten her son to enroll.
“Tell him he could get hit by a car. It’s crazy. They don’t think about that kind of stuff,” said Obama,
who moments later applauded another mother for signing herself and adult son up for insurance plans. “Did you get his friends?”
“We have our most precious people walking around here at any point time being hit by a car or being struck by an unforeseen illness and they will not be able to get the care they need when it costs so little. … We need people to make sure we reach out to the young people in our lives.”
...
Wednesday’s event is one of dozens that the White House is planning to entice last-minute consumers into the federal marketplace, reminding folks they can sign up online, over the phone or in-person with trained counselors.
President Obama will host a televised town hall focusing on Latino enrollment Thursday. Vice President Joe Biden promoted the Affordable Care Act in Atlanta on Tuesday, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is making stops in Houston and Phoenix.
In Miami, the first lady, dressed in a black patterned wrap-style dress, spoke to nearly a dozen enrollees and application counselors individually, high-fiving some for getting insurance, asking how long the process took (about 20 minutes for individuals and up to 45 minutes for a family). She encouraged counselors to stay busy and enroll as many people as possible.
“You’re changing lives. You realize that. … Keep it up,” she said, affectionately squeezing counselor Suze Diogene’s shoulder.
Before leaving, the first lady reflected on her time serving on the board of a community health center in Chicago, where she said she saw firsthand how primary care “can make a difference in the life of a community and a family.”
“These places are not easy places to run, but you are doing God’s work.”
Obama as God?
No thank you.
