Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- First lady Michelle Obama sought support for the administration’s health-care plans from family advocacy groups and health-care professionals, saying the treatment of women under the current system is “unacceptable.”

As President Barack Obama campaigns to generate backing from voters for his health-care overhaul proposal, the first lady joined the effort today with a more focused pitch.

Michelle Obama said women are being “crushed by the current structure of our health care” because they often are responsible for taking care of family illnesses, arranging checkups and monitoring follow-up care.

“Women are the ones to do it,” she said to an audience of 140 people, including representatives from groups such as the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the National Council of Negro Women. “Mothers are the ones that do it. And many women find themselves doing the same thing for their spouses.”

Women also are more disproportionately affected by the lack of insurance options because they are more likely to work part-time or at small businesses that don’t provide coverage.

“It’s not surprising that so many millions of women are simply going without insurance at all,” Obama said.

After months of fruitless efforts in Congress to forge a compromise health-care proposal that can draw bipartisan support, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, released a proposal this week to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans and curb costs. The administration said it may help break the stalemate.

Still, the Baucus plan drew fire from multiple sources. Republicans balked at the $856 billion price tag and Democrats were unhappy it leaves out a government-run insurance program to compete with private carriers. Unions denounced a proposed tax on high-end insurance plans.

The president, as part of his lobbying campaign, is recording interviews today for five Sunday talk shows on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and Univision and is scheduled to appear Sept. 21 on CBS Corp.’s “Late Show With David Letterman.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at 1973 or kandersen7@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: September 18, 2009 14:21 EDT