Michelle Obama pushes health care reform while talking breast cancer

The White House got a temporary facelift on Monday, as crews installed a huge pink ribbon at the north portico of the official residence in honor of breast cancer awareness.

At the same time, the administration continued pushing for health care reform, using the breast cancer issue as an example of how the current system fails many of those in need.

Speaking at the White House last Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama acknowledged the work of previous first ladies, including Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan, on breast cancer awareness.

"And today, because of that work, the number of women getting regular mammograms has dramatically increased, and the five-year survival rate when breast cancer is diagnosed in time is 98 percent -- and that's compared to 74 percent in the early 80s," Mrs. Obama said.

The first lady said the U.S. spends $900 million on breast cancer research, which she said 30 times more than what we spent in 1982. "So we have come a long way," she said to applause.

Despite the increase in funding, Obama said the work is not finished. "We know we're not finished when nearly one in eight women is still diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime -- a total of one woman every three minutes -- and nearly 2,000 men are diagnosed each year as well, and that's something we don't often discuss," she said.

While her husband is busy fighting for health care reform, the first lady also used the moment to demonstrate how the current health care system fails many of those with breast cancer. "[W]e have a health care system in this country that simply is not working for too many people with breast cancer and too many people who are surviving with breast cancer," she said.

"And perhaps most heartbreaking of all is the fact that right now, today in America, there are people in this country who have breast cancer but don't even know it, because they can't afford a mammogram," Mrs. Obama said. The first lady added: "This is not acceptable in this country."