Right now, she’s focused on making sure that American people sign up for healthcare coverage.
Health insurance companies can no longer deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions, or drop someone for being sick.
Open enrollment for 2016 healthcare plans ends on January 31, 2016.
WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 05: Dr. Jill Biden listens as President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Community Colleges on October 5, 2010 in Washington, DC. The event, convened by Dr. Biden, is intended to highlight the role that community colleges play in developing America’s workforce. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jill Biden
Dr. Biden, age 64, is a strong proponent of exercise and health.
A longtime runner, she completed the 1998 Marine Corps Marathon and tries to runfive miles a day.
She has also been spotted atbarre classes around D.C.
It really is important for women to sign up for [insurance].
As grandmothers, as sisters, we are the caregivers mainly in our families.
So if we’re signing up, we have to see to it our children are signed up.
It has a domino effect where you take care of people in your family.
Being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.
I check on them constantly.
How do you personally prioritize being healthy?
I make it a priority in my life.
I run and I take barre class.
I exercise every single day.
It is part of my daily schedule.
Whether it’s 6:30 in the morning or 6:30 at night, it is part of my daily routine.
And I don’t just exercise to make myself look better.
I think exercise and being healthy creates total balance in life.
People have to find what works for them.
So for me, running and doing the barre class and weightsthat works for me.
And make that your exercise, because then you’ll do it.
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You’re a busy person who is wearing a lot of hats.
Well I mean, look at the First Lady!
In my life, I teach full-time and then I have my job as Second Lady.
But health is a priority for me.
Because if you’re not healthy, then what do you do?
I attempt to set an example for my children.
They’re all athletes.
And with my students, I attempt to encourage them.
If they’re stressed, they journal it to me like “I’m so stressed out!
What can I do!”
I say, look.
Find time to walk, to clear your head.
To just think about things.
I promote it in my class.
When women get together, we talk about how to recreate and maintain this balance in our lives.
And I think you’re free to only maintain balance, and have balance, if you exercise.
How do you confirm you are eating your healthiest when you have so many things going on?
I think i’m a pretty healthy eater in general.
I didn’t grow up with a lot of snack foods in our home.
My mother never bought soda, and she got those cookies I hated.
So I think that has sort of carried through.
My children aren’t junk food eaters, they eat pretty healthy.
But if they want things like chips or whatever, I think everything in moderation.
I don’t think you should cut it out completely, I don’t think that’s practical.
With my grandchildren, the snack that they love to go to is hummus and fresh vegetables.
They love that, and that’s what they’ve grown up on.
So I think it’s all in choices parents make for their children.
We have to start that responsibility and then pass on those good eating habits.
And I’ve tried very hard to do that.
When I was cookingwhen I wasn’t Second LadyI always cooked healthy meals.
I actually planned my meals ahead.
Because I was teaching, I didn’t have a lot of time to go to the store.
I checked ingredients for all my meals, I learned that.
When I was in school, I had Home Economicsall the girls had to take it.
They taught us about healthy eating, and I incorporated that in my lifestyle.
And raising three children, my boys were really healthy eaters.
And they encouraged me to want to cook for them.
I have always said that cooking is love, and that’s how I felt.
Who are reluctant to look after their health and be proactive in this way?
They have to do it.
I have actually encouraged two of my sistersone never had health insurance and I made her.
I kept after her, so she finally signed up.
And when she finally found it, they charged her such an exorbitant amount.
Start with people in your circle who you know.
check that that they are taken care of and that they sign up.
When I’m in the classroom, people say I can’t go to the doctor.
And I say, you must sign up for healthcare.
Now it’s the law.
And people have to take responsibility for themselves.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Go tohttps://www.healthcare.gov/to learn more about the Affordable Care Act, and to sign up for coverage.
Open enrollment ends on January 31, 2016.
