Jun 18, 2009 7:05 pm US/Central
DNC Uses MN Woman's Health Care Story In Campaign
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Cathy Miller worries that if she can't find health insurance willing to cover her son's pre-existing condition, she will have to pay $1,400 a month for COBRA coverage -- about what she spends on the house payment.
CBS
As the U.S. Senate debates health care legislation in Washington, D.C., one local woman's story is making its way around the Internet.
On Thursday, President Obama's "Organizing For America" campaign released a web video featuring Cathy Miller. Miller is a single mother of two who lives in Apple Valley. Earlier this month, she lost her job as a special education and early childhood education teacher after the Lakeville school district made cutbacks.
"I lost my job Friday due to budget cuts and now I'm looking at being without insurance," Miller Miller said in a 1-minute, 45-second
Web video produced by the Democratic National Convention.
In the video, she says she's concerned for her 15-year-old son, Nate, who has a genetic disease that requires expensive treatment. Miller says if she can't find a new job soon or if Nate can't go under his father's insurance with his pre-existing condition, she'll have to spend $1,400 a month for
COBRA coverage. That's what she pays for her house payment each month.
"This is an important issue and something that's very personal to me, so you just have to set aside your aversion to cameras," she said.
Miller was one of hundreds of thousands who
wrote into the Organizing For America Web site with her story. Last week, she got a call from the DNC saying that they'd like to take video of her talking about it. A camera crew came later that day. Within a week, the video was airing on YouTube.
"I did a lot of acting in high school and college, but I thought this was nothing to do. There was no script," she said.
Nate said he was proud of his mom for speaking out.
"It tells a good point to people, people who might not know about health care and what it means to some families," he said.
Miller is one of three or four will ultimately be selected for this web campaign, according to the DNC. It's all part of a public relations push as the U.S. Senate debates health care reform.
A new survey released yesterday found some tentative support for President Obama's health plan. According to the Wall Street Journal-NBC News Poll, about one-third of people said it was a good idea, one-third said it was a bad idea and another one-third didn't have an opinion.
When given more information about the plan, support increased to 55 percent with 35 percent opposed.
The pollster told people the plan would cover people pre-existing conditions, require employers (except the smallest ones) to provide coverage and give tax credits for insurance to low and middle-income families.
The pollster also said some of the funding would come from raising taxes on wealthier Americans. That question did not address one of the more controversial parts of the plan -- the public choice option.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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