Falco urges health care overhaul at Capitol rally

Award-winning actress Edie Falco, cable television's no-nonsense "Nurse Jackie," delivered a stern message to lawmakers Thursday: fix health care.

"I'm here because I've traveled through the health care system and there are some holes," Falco, a breast cancer survivor, told a Capitol Hill rally for health care overhaul. "I'm here because I care about the people in this country and I know that we can do better, that we must do better."

Falco, who stars in the Showtime series "Nurse Jackie, said she went without health care coverage for many years. Nearly 50 million Americans are without coverage and President Barack Obama's goal is to provide health benefits for all.

"I work in a business where they take great care of you if you are working," Falco told a crowd of several hundred at the rally.

"It's bad enough the emotional impact of not having a job," she said. "But to get sick on top of that, and worry every day that your symptoms are not getting better, figuring out what you're gonna have to do without so you can afford a doctor's visit — I am far more familiar with that than I am with my situation these last number of years."

Before taking on the role of a New York City nurse, Falco was nominated for a best actress Emmy six times for her role as mob wife Carmela Soprano in HBO's "The Sopranos." She won three times.

Lawmakers have been working on legislation to control the costs of health care while expanding coverage.

Falco, labor leaders and other supporters of Obama's effort appeared at the afternoon rally on behalf of Health Care for America Now. The organization has launched $1.1 million in television ads in 10 states supporting Democrats' health efforts.