Minnesota woman guest of first lady
Michelle Obama shared company with a Minneapolis woman Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill.
Because of a chronic health problem, Abby Schanfield, 21, has become something of a spokeswoman in Minnesota for the landmark federal health care legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010.
As such, Schanfield was one of nearly two dozen people invited to sit with the first lady during Obama’s speech.
Schanfield was born with toxoplasmosis, a disease that requires ongoing treatment such as periodic surgeries to replace a shunt in her brain.
She now has health insurance through her parents’ policy. But if she must buy coverage on her own, she fears it wouldn’t be available on the open market because of pre-existing condition exclusions in many health plans.
