This holiday season, Georgeanne Koehler and her family will be facing an empty chair at their Christmas dinner table. Georgeanne's brother Bill died of a heart attack in March 2009. What's even sadder is that Bill's death might have been prevented--had he not been lost through the cracks of our broken health care system.

Before his passing, Bill found himself facing a situation that's confronting 27.4 million U.S. workers right now: he lost his job--and with it, his health insurance. He was not able to get coverage after that, getting turned by insurance companies like CIGNA, who refused to cover him because he had heart arrhythmia. Billy then took a job as a pizza delivery driver so he could keep paying the bills, even though his condition continued to worsen.

A ticking time bomb of the heart: On December 17, 2007, Bill collapsed at work and was rushed to the emergency room. It was determined that he would need a new defibrillator battery for his heart to function properly. Because Billy did not have insurance, he could not get the new battery he needed, the price of which - at thousands of dollars - was far beyond his or his families' financial reach. Billy was never able to afford the care he needed and when his defibrillator battery died, so did he; slumping over the steering wheel of his car on his way home from work on March 7, 2009.

Georgeanne knows that nothing can bring Billy back, but she's determined to fight this healthcare injustice. Today, the SEIU Healthcare PA member is holding a press conference to share her holiday wish for health care reform this year, to talk about the holiday card campaign she's organizing, asking that folks write down their health care story or message of support for reform and send them to her on holiday greeting cards or post cards. Georgeanne plans to deliver the postcards en masse to Washington, DC on December 17th to send a heartfelt, powerful message to our elected officials that America needs real health care reform done before the end of the year.

The Pennsylvania Health Access Network, along with Health Care for America NOW and the Service Employees International Union, SEIU Healthcare PA are supporting Georgeanne in her efforts. Send Georgeanne a holiday postcard with your message about health insurance reform through SEIU Healthcare PA's Pittsburgh Office: Georgeanne Koehler // c/o SEIU Healthcare PA // 209 9th St., 4th Floor // Pittsburgh, PA 15222

So many stories have come out in the past few weeks about insurance company abuses that it's hard to keep them straight. We thought it was worth highlighting some of the worst offenses that have come to light.

Check out our top five list of recent insurance company abuses:

1. Rape as a pre-existing condition: Women in America have a choice. If they've been raped, they can either go to the emergency room, get the care they need and seek counseling in order to begin the healing process... or they can keep their health insurance.
2. Get sterilized: This is what an insurance company, Golden Rule, told Peggy Robertson, mother of two, after she had a C-section birth. Just keep in mind the fact that over 30% of births in America are performed via C-section.
3. Baby is "too fat": Newborn babies have been denied coverage for being born too large. Today, over 67% of Americans are either overweight or obese. Isn't it nice to see the insurance industry joining the fight to curb obesity at... birth?
4. Baby is "too small": Well you don't want the small babies to feel left out, do you? Even perfectly healthy children, like 2 year-old Aislin Bates, can be denied coverage because an insurer thinks they're "too small."
5. And for everyone else: Just because you're not a woman or baby doesn't mean that the insurance industry has forgotten about you. There are plenty of reasons why you too can be denied care!

Thousands of people have taken a ticket for gender equity in health care. (We're currently at 2,689 people in line.)

Want to play an even bigger role in fighting insurance company discrimination against women?

We rigged our toll-free phone line to direct calls to male members of Congress. That's right - the men in Congress need to hear from us about how women are routinely discriminated against by insurance companies. Let's educate them on what women are facing every day: higher premiums, less coverage, and battles with insurers over "pre-existing conditions" like pregnancy and c-sections.

Call 1-866-311-3405 and tell them it's time to deliver on health insurance reform.

Let's educate male members of Congress on how women are unfairly discriminated against by health insurers. Call toll-free at 1-866-311-3405. Use this form to report back on your conversation.

If you happen to live in a district that is represented by women in both the House and Senate, we'll patch you through to the Capitol Switchboard, where we recommend you contact the Minority Leader in the House or Senate. Call 1-866-311-3405 and report-back.

Last week, we covered the many ways in which women are discriminated against in our current health care system. From not covering maternity care to calling domestic violence a pre-existing condition, insurance companies seem to have written the book on how to turn a buck at the expense of millions of women in America.

Earlier this month, Sen. Jon Kyl also decided to get in on the act by claiming "I don't need maternity care. So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive."

His statement clearly show that, when it comes to women's health care, certain male senators are taking all of their cues from insurance companies. Help educate members of Congress about the numerous challenges women face when it comes to getting quality, affordable coverage by signing the petition for insurance reform that puts an end to all gender-based discrimination.

Today, some time after 12pm ET, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on an amendment to include a public option in their health care bill. Guess what - one of your Senators sits on the committee.

We can't lose this debate. Will you call your Senator? Dial 1-866-311-3405 and you'll be given talking points before being connected to your Senator's office. After you make the call, use this form to report-back.

The public health insurance option is a key component to meaningful reform. It will lower costs, introduce real competition, and serve as a check on insurance company greed. Without a public option, we'll be required to purchase health coverage from the same companies who brought us pre-existing conditions, unlawful rescission and denial of coverage.

Dial 1-866-311-3405 and urge your Senator to support a public option.

I know it's not the first time you've been asked to make a call, and it certainly won't be the last. But we can't grow bored of this fight. We can't lose sight of the goal - that every American has quality, affordable health care coverage.

The weeks ahead will be critical for winning provisions like a public health insurance option. Thank you for continuing to keep the pressure on - we can't afford to let up now.

Congressman Stupak and insurance industry whistle-blower Wendell Potter co-hosted a telephone press conference today to further discuss insurance industry abuses. While various Congressional subcommittees have held hearings on the topic, it's clear that we are only beginning to scratch the tip of the iceberg.

Stupak and Potter discussed two insurance industry processes by which they protect their profit margins: rescission and purging. Rescission, the more discussed of the two, is the process by while insurance companies terminate coverage for their customers in the personal insurance market if they become sick. Stupak noted that victims of rescission often pay their premiums for years, "lulled into a false sense of security" and adding to the insurance company's profits. Then, when they become ill, "these companies don't honor their agreements."

The call also touched on purging, rescission's lesser-known twin brother. Because of HIPAA, passed in 1996, it is illegal for insurers to rescind coverage from group policy holders. But don't worry: the clever insurance industry has found a way to get around that. Through purging, insurance companies raise the rates for small businesses to the point that they can no longer afford to pay and are forced to cease buying coverage, thus saving the insurance company money.

After discussing these twisted, profit-padding practices, Wendell pointed out that this is how insurance companies try to keep their "medical loss ratio" as low as possible. As a result, "we have in this country a Wall Street driven healthcare system."

In August, we took our message of health care reform to our elected officials during town halls all across the country, and they listened. But, now that they are back in Washington, they are again under the influence of the insurance industry, which is fighting hard to defeat real reform.

So now we need to take on the insurance industry! Today, SEIU members all over the country took part in the "Big Insurance: Sick of It" rallies hosted by MoveOn, HCAN and our other progressive allies. From LA to New York, members arrived at offices of major health insurance providers and demanded to know why they were standing in the way of health care reform.

MINNESOTA: Fifty SEIU members joined nearly 250 other activists in marching up to the doors of UnitedHealthcare. They presented their demands to UHC representatives, and staged a 15-minute die-in to bring home the point that insurance companies are truly killing Americans. Local member Tammy Brown, who participated in the protest, said, "Big insurance companies are a roadblock to reform. As long as they keeping reaping record profits, the rest of us will keep losing our raises, our health, and even our lives."

FLORIDA: A group of 60 people protested outside the headquarters of Hygeia, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare Group. A delegation of eight protestors met with Hygeia representatives and presented them with their demands.

NORTH DAKOTA: Fifty local activists met with the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield in Fargo, North Dakota. She promised that BCBS would respond to their demands in writing by Friday, and suggested they also meet with the company's CEO.

NEBRASKA: A small group of SEIU members and supporters, led by a local pastor, formed a prayer circle outside the offices of UnitedHealthcare. The pastor also tried to deliver the group's demands to UHC executives, but the staff locked the doors to the building and would not let him enter.

NEW YORK: About 500 people attended an event outside the UHC offices at 1 Penn Plaza. One of the speakers, a new member of 32BJ, recounted how he was forced to go into debt paying for his wife's cancer treatment. Recently, he finally received health insurance, which has allowed him to pay for her medication.

COLORADO: Over 150 people, including 40 SEIU members, protested outside the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield building in Denver. Three of the participants shared their personal stories about being denied health insurance. Their stories were then underscored by a street theater demonstration that made the same point. The event culminated with three activists attempting to deliver the protestors' demands to BCBS officials. They were turned away at the front door.

CALIFORNIA: Up and down California, SEIU members joined with other activists to take the "Big Insurance: Sick of It" message to the offices of Wellpoint Blue Cross in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. And in Santa Ana, United Healthcare got the same message. Over 700 participated in the actions including 265 SEIU members from locals in every division of the union.

As the health care debate unfurled over the past few months, we've seen the great lengths that insurance companies will go to in order to ensure that their profit margins remain high. In some cases, these companies have gone so far as to deny coverage to victims of domestic violence by classifying their experience as a "pre-existing condition." As more of these practices come to light, members of Congress are sitting up and taking notice.

Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dennis Kucinich has scheduled hearings this week to examine the toll insurance company profiteering practices take on regular people. Tomorrow and Thursday, his committee will hear testimony from victims of insurance companies, insurance company CEOs, health policy specialists and whistle-blower Wendell Potter, a former executive from CIGNA (you can see the full witness list here).

Executives from several insurance companies, including United Healthcare, WellPoint, Aetna, and CIGNA will be testifying before the subcommittee. In March 1995, the Boston Globe reported that, "Among the companies that deny or have canceled coverage to battered women are Nationwide, Allstate, State Farm, Aetna, Metropolitan Life, The Equitable Companies, First Colony Life, The Prudential and the Principal Financial Group, according to a congressional survey, investigations by women's groups, and written or verbal statements to the Globe by the firms themselves." Aetna later claimed it never denied anyone coverage due to a history of domestic violence.

Patricia Farrell, Senior Vice President of Account for Aetna, Inc., will be one of the insurance industry executives appearing before Rep. Kucinich.

Join us in asking Rep. Kucinich to publicly question the insurance industry on this practice, demanding that they disavow practices that discriminate against women and those who've been the victims of domestic violence.

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we'll bring you a report from the first day of the hearing!

* Read more about victims of domestic violence being denied coverage because of their "pre-existing condition" here and here.

Insurance companies have used the excuse of "pre-existing conditions" to deny coverage to countless Americans. From cancer patients to the elderly suffering from arthritis, these organizations have padded their profit margins by limiting coverage to patients deemed "high risk" because of their medical condition.

But, in DC and eight other states, including Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, insurance companies have gone too far, claiming that "domestic violence victim" is also a pre-existing condition.

Words cannot describe the sheer inhumanity of this claim. It serves as yet further proof that our insurance system is broken, destroyed by the profit-mongering of the very companies whose sole purpose should be to provide Americans with access to care when they need it most. In 1994, an informal survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when deciding whether to extend coverage and how much to charge if coverage was extended.

It is clear that insurance companies refuse to police themselves. It's up to us to call on Congress to take action now to pass health care reform and end discrimination against patients with pre-existing conditions.

* Read more about victims of domestic violence being denied coverage because of their "pre-existing condition" here and here.

UPDATE: The National Women's Law Center has just confirmed that in April, Arkansas actually passed a law prohibiting insurance discrimination against domestic violence survivors. While this is great news, we need to keep up the fight until we pass health insurance reform and wipe out discrimination against patients with pre-existing conditions" once and for all.

With Labor Day rapidly approaching and the Congressional recess coming to an end, we're experiencing the most explosive, critical debate on healthcare reform in our nation's history. This Labor Day, nothing is more critical to working families than seeing real progress on healthcare reform.

No one knows better than working families and healthcare providers the mounting cost of inaction--and the stakes just keep getting higher. Employer-sponsored health coverage for families has increased by 119 percent between 1999 and 2008 and rates could jump by 94 percent (to $23,842 per family) in the coming decade if cost growth continues on its current course.

Every Week that Health Insurance Reform is Delayed:

* 44,230 more people will lose their health insurance coverage
* 16,653 more people will file for bankruptcy because they can't pay their medical bills
* As many as 423 people will die because they lack health coverage

"Access to quality affordable health care should be a right, not a privilege," said Kenioun Williams, a youth minister at Greater First Baptist in Helena, Arkansas. "We live in the richest country in the world and need to do better for the least among us. Something must be done to control skyrocketing premiums, and the time is now to pass health insurance reform." The bottom line is simple: we cannot restore economic balance and bring prosperity to all Americans without drastically bringing down healthcare costs and ensuring that all Americans have access.

Concerns and fears about healthcare reform are tainting peaceful dialogues and crippling efforts by Congress and the White House Administration to fix the U.S. healthcare crisis. And so as members of Congress head back to Washington, DC after the recess, we need to make sure they hear loud and clear that health insurance reform must happen this year. Join the fight for health reform by attending a send-off rally.

« For a listing of events being held on Labor Day, Monday, September 7th by SEIU and HCAN, click here.

Last month, members of Congress returned to their home districts to discuss health care reform with their constituents. Unfortunately, many of them were met by individuals intent of finding out why they supported socialized medicine, wanted to "pull the plug on grandma," and believed that we should ration care. Faced with such blatant misinformation coming from an often hostile audience, several members of Congress rose to the occasion, debunked the lies and ran their town hall meetings in a calm and collected manner.

Check out some of our greatest healthcare town hall hits here, and then be sure to vote below!

CA Rep tells tea partiers "Don't try it with Maxine Waters"

Barney Frank refuses to argue with "a dining room table"

Rep. Joe Donnelly tells the truth about health care

Rep. Loebsack appalled by acne as "pre-existing condition"

Congressmen Ross and Snyder join forces to fight lies about reform

Sen. McCaskill asks who wants to get rid of Medicare

Now that you've had a chance to relive all these town hall moments that took place during the month of August, tell us which one is your favorite! Vote now:

Workers United members of Local 1426 in Terre Haute, Indiana recently rejected a contract offer by their employer and voted to continue to strike. The company continues to insist on implementing invasive health coverage testing for both workers and their spouses, as well as a temporary worker program that would reduce the number of permanent jobs.

Earlier this month, actor and activist Danny Glover traveled to Terre Haute to show his support for the workers who make the flexible food packaging you see on your grocery store's shelves:

The members of Local 1426 need your support -- please stand with them and tell Bemis Manufacturing company that workers aren't lab rats.

Members of Change that Works Louisiana are on the stomp, throughout the state of Louisiana during this August recess, working to dispel the myths of health insurance reform and expressing their health care stories and concerns. President Obama set out to make the cause of health reform a truly bi-partisan issue. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Louisianans have tremendous health issues, the campaign for reform is split along party lines. In an effort to reach across the aisle and make sure that our Republican lawmakers also know our concerns about health care in Louisiana, the Change that Works team attended a health care townhall, hosted by Congressman Rodney Alexander.

During the townhall, Rep. Alexander admits that we may have 40 million plus uninsured in this country but he believes they are protected because they have access to the emergency room. Well, according to the Committee on Education and Labor, insured American families will pay $1,017 per year to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. Read the entire blog here. Emergency room health care is not only a band-aid solution for Louisiana it also a band-aid solution for the country. Citizens
who rely upon emergency room care more often than not cannot afford insurance and generally cannot afford the cost of the emergency room visit. This cost is passed on to health insurance consumers. The Congressman goes on to say he knows these folks don't have access to primary care.

Well Congressman, a health reform bill would guarantee that these uninsured Americans would have access to primary care. And if you care about Louisianans as you profess, you will support this bill. The cost of doing nothing is too great for the state of Louisiana.

And last I heard, the United States was still a democracy and in the great state of Louisiana, we must have civil and southern debate. We can't shout down our detractors. Instead we must continue to voice our support of health reform and maintain a sense of gentility while enduring those who seem to have lost their manners.

Watch a portion of the townhall here:


And join Change that Works at some of the upcoming townhalls across the state.

For the last 52 years, Local 1426 of Workers United in Terre Haute, Indiana has worked with Bemis to grow their local plant from 150 employees to over 1,000 employees. Yet in spite of their growing size, members of the union have agreed to modest wage gains over the years that just barely keep up with the cost of inflation--because that was what was best for the community and to keep the company competitive.

In recent years management changed--and it was not the only thing changing around the plant. Without any advance notice last year, the Company announced that it was going to require all employees (and their spouses) to submit to invasive medical testing in order to remain eligible for their health insurance. Not only was this illegal for the way it was done, with no bargaining with union representatives, but as you can imagine, it was hugely insulting and demeaning to workers and their families.