The insurance industry is sick. After studying the symptoms, we've diagnosed them with "Goldilocks syndrome," named after the little blonde heroine of the popular children's story.

Like her, insurance companies have broken into people's homes but then cherry-picked which customers are "too big" or "too small" to insure, settling on the ones that are "juuust right." The stories have been all over the news over the past few weeks: one baby who was "too big," another toddler who was "too small." But the insurance companies aren't dealing with fictional talking bears. These are real people who need medical coverage.

In the most recent case of "Goldilocks syndrome," an insurance company turned down a perfectly healthy 40-year-old woman for being "too small." Wendy Stewart, who is 5' 1" and tips the scales at 90 pounds, was denied coverage because of her small stature. Aside from the sheer insanity of deeming someone "too small" to insure, Wendy is actually not even that small by medical standards: the ideal weight for her height is between 95 and 116 lbs. She may not be be perfect, but she's certainly not in any danger.

Of course if this whole story is sounding familiar, you may be remembering another case of "Goldilocks syndrome" in Colorado, which was uncovered a few weeks ago during a HELP Committee hearing. Peggy Robertson testified that her three-year-old son Luke was denied insurance by Golden Rule Insurance, a subsidiary of United Healthcare, because he was "too small." While Golden Rule claimed that they were following industry standards, our recent revelation makes you wonder exactly what those "standards" dictate.

The insurance industry wants us to think these are isolated cases. Clearly, however, the numbers don't lie. More and more people are coming out with similar stories of denial. How many more are still out there? Worse yet, how many more are not even aware that their claims were denied based on outrageous height and weight requirements?

In the time span that most Americans get up and go to their jobs, work a full day and return home, Congress made historic progress on overhauling our healthcare system. Within just hours of one another today, the House Ways & Means and Education & Labor Committees concluded their markup of healthcare reform legislation, joining the Senate HELP Committee in proving that comprehensive reform is both fiscally responsible and legislatively achievable this year. "If you don't have health insurance, this bill is for you," said Senator Chris Dodd in praise of the Affordable Health Choices Act, legislation that will drive down costs for families through meaningful reforms that reduce premiums and out of pocket expenses, guarantee the choice of a quality public health insurance option and enhance employer responsibility.

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, SEIU Healthcare 775NW member and Montana home care worker Pat DeJong stood alongside Senators Dodd, Mikulski, and Harkin to celebrate the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee's passage of healthcare reform bill, the first of the Congressional panels to approve the health legislation. "This legislation makes healthcare affordable so families like mine won't worry about losing their homes, ranches, farms or having to file for bankruptcy," said DeJong during the press conference. (Read Pat's story here)

For millions of Americans like Pat, real hope for changing the status quo of the nearly 50 million Americans not having health insurance--of families being able to choose an affordable quality public health insurance plan--is now closer than ever. "Today, we see the results of true political leadership and what a commitment to keeping your promises looks like: three healthcare reform bills passing out of committees in a single week," said SEIU President Andy Stern.

Last week nearly 5,000 SEIU members and activists from across the country called their Members of Congress to say: "Healthcare won't be fixed until it's affordable for everyone." Well, these hours and hours of phone calls, door knocks, letters, and visits to Congress demanding real healthcare reform is paying off. Last night, House Democrats unveiled a healthcare bill that provides comprehensive reform that is both fiscally responsible and legislatively achievable this year and today the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension Committee passed their version of a bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act. On a related (but) disappointing note, not a single Republican voted for the change working families need.

"To solve a problem as critical and expansive as our broken healthcare system requires everyone working together with a common purpose, but the GOP has proven they have no interest in creating the new mindset in Washington that voters demanded last November," said SEIU President Andy Stern.

For months, we've been standing firm on our call for Congress to deliver a health care bill that does a few, simple things. It has to lower health care costs for patients, businesses, and governments. It has to improve the quality of care for patients. And it has to make sure that every American, regardless of who they are or how much money that make, has access to affordable care.

Today, the Senate delivered a bill that meets those goals.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee released the complete version of their health care reform bill this morning. It has all the ingredients needed to finally fix our broken system and give every American quality coverage at an affordable price.

One of the key provisions in the legislation is the inclusion of a strong public health insurance option. It would be accessible to Americans on day one, regardless of where they live. And it's completely voluntary; people who like the plan they have now can keep it, and people who don't have access to affordable health care have the choice of a public health insurance option.

The HELP Committee's bill represents a huge break from politics as usual. Finally, there's legislation in the Senate that holds private insurers accountable and gives working people peace of mind when it comes to health care.

But, already, there are members of Congress trying to water down the bill. They're trying to add provisions that will protect huge profits for insurance companies instead of cutting costs and improving care for patients.

Let's send them a reminder of how much health care costs are hurting us - the people who elected them to office. Send your medical bill to Congress today and tell them to support the HELP Committee's common sense plan for fixing health care.

It's been 15 years since Congress and our President last tried to fix the health care crisis in America. Today, a draft of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee's bill of health care reform legislation was released.

SEIU President Andy Stern had this to say:

"To realize the fundamental change that is needed to fix our broken healthcare system, our elected leaders must have courage, passion, and vision. Senator Kennedy, Senator Dodd and HELP Committee members from both sides of the aisle have channeled their courage and passion into a vision of reform that provides Americans with more choices and more affordable healthcare options; including one guaranteed by the government that puts the good of the American people ahead of profits.

"The provisions outlined in Americans Health Choices Act provide working families with the freedom to make their own choice of whether to keep their current plan or to join a public health insurance option that encourages honest competition and guarantees everyone access to better, more affordable healthcare solutions. The Americans Health Choices Act is another opportunity for Congress to prove it can work in a bipartisan way to increase healthcare choices and quality for Americans while addressing the cost crisis that is crippling our economy and driving working families into financial ruin."

All day Tuesday, workers from more than 30 states and a number of unions were on the Hill to lobby their own Members of Congress on the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.. The workers related their personal stories of being fired or harassed when they attempted to form a union, and several workers participated in a hearing from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee on the importance of unions in restoring the middle class.

Among the witnesses called to testify before Congress was SEIU 32BJ member Kelly Badillo, who told the committee the devastating experience of what it was like to be working in the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 when the planes hit. Badillo related how his union helped him and his family get back on their feet in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy, when while living with the terror of the attack, he also had to worry where his next paycheck was going to come from:

"Two thousand, seven hundred and fifty people lost their lives, including forty-seven SEIU members. Many thousands more lost their jobs. More than twelve hundred 32BJ members - cleaners, security officers, building maintenance, window washers and elevator operators like me were suddenly trying to live on unemployment.

One week later, I got a call from my union. They asked me to come to our union hall and meet with my employer, American Building Maintenance. There were more than 800 other members there when I arrived.

Working together, my union and my employer agreed to:

* $130 per week in supplemental unemployment.
* Continued health insurance for us and our families.
* We kept our pensions.
* The Green Cross was in our union hall everyday to help us deal with our loss and the psychological effects of September 11."

And a little over four months later, ABA called back with a way to get Badillo and others back to work. Additionally, workers close to retiring had five years added to their years of service and age.

"My story exemplifies that businesses and unions can work together for the benefit of hardworking Americans like me. My daughters are grown and have jobs of their own, but I can only hope they can enjoy a strong voice on the workplace like I have had," said Badillo.

The New York Times tells the story of Badillo's experience in a piece written in September 2001 - read it here.

>> Kelly Badillo's entire testimony here.