beaton said about myself. there are 435 congressmen and every one of last, our job is to help constituents. i have four full-time caseworkers. mr. ryan to my left was my district director at the time. i had christi and deborah and jody and ron and linda glesby, all of them intervened for you. i came in at the very end and talk to the president, but not just myself what every member of congress. we helped hundreds sometimes thousands of people each year. doorcase just happened to be life-and-death and we put a lot of extra effort into it because we knew how important it was to get you health care as quick as possible, but it's not just me, it's every member of congress that tries to serve our constituents. my first question will be to the gentlelady down to the far right. you said that your application -- they asked several questions several different ways and they were very tricky. is in your understanding that that is a standard practice in the individual insurance markets? do they start out with the intentio

beaton do you want to comment on that? >> , yes, just like myself, i want to have a physical for insurance and they said no we don't do that so i even offered to let them have a physical on me which to me that would be a good thing. that way of the there is anything-- >> we have that medicare thing. >> they don't do that at all so they don't want to spend the money for a physical to give it to you, to rule you out then so you don't get your hopes up and think you have insurance. >> i completely agree with what ms. raddatz said and just went after this practice happens which hopefully we are going to stop it from happening in the first place but when your physicians bright letters on your behalf and help you an appealing to these insurance companies the fact that they give no weight whatsoever to what these physicians who have been treating you for years say, it is totally unconscionable. >> i was reading through some of those examples who were rescinded and their positions of the patient would have no idea of this. it was

beaton's case. and he further promised that if the facts were as she said, and i said, that her coverage would be reinstated. good to his word, the president called me back within four hours and said that ms. beaton's coverage would be reinstated. however, precious time was lost. luckily for robin, she was finally able to get the surgery. not through blue cross/blue shield, though, as i understand it. she's now undergoing chemotherapy because the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes. but she is still with us, thank god. and she's here today to tell us her personal story. robin's situation was what caused notice draft an amendment to represent the breast cancer bill last year to protect people like robin by prohibiting recisions of health insurance if nondisclosure of information is not related to the claim. not related to the claim, and inadvertent. there is no reason on god's green earth that somebody ought to have their health insurance revoked because of some inadvertent omission that's not relat

beaton got when she switched jobs from being a nurse and went into business for herself.on the application, i have to list the medications that i am taking, the fact that i had a heart attack, give the doctor that time, the location, but i broke my leg playing football in high school. i got a 250 lb-- i with a linebacker. if i forget to put all my application with your companies that i had my, this small bone in my left leg broken playing football in 1967, but i do put all my medications and my history of my heart attack, the fact that i omitted breaking my leg in 1967, is that a grounds to resent my claim, my policy later on? under your policies right now that your company has issued? >> i admit that my big problem, tell you the medications, all the stuff but i flat forget that i broke my leg and was treated by dr., paid by the school district in 1967. >> congressmen barton, r underwriting guidelines really kind of dictate that. but it is my understanding of how are underwriting guidelines work is that since that condition would not be material and are underwriting decis

miss beaton, if you want to sit there, that's okay. do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the matter pending before this committee? let the record reflect the witnesses replied in the affirmative. they are now under oath. we will hear a five-minute opening statement from each of you. miss beaton, would you like to start first with an opening? you'd like to be last? miss horton, would you mind being first? would you pull that mike forward and turn on the green button there. it doesn't pick up as well as it should. >> can you hear me now? >> we can hear you. thank you. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. i want to start by thanking the committee for this opportunity to testify this morning. i am very pleased that congress has decided to take a close look at recision, so that it can understand just how damaging this practice has been to so many people across the country. when blue cross canceled my coverage, i had no idea what recision meant. but now af

beaton, if you want to sit there that's okay.ony you're about to give to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the matter pending before this committee? let the record reflect the witness is replied in the affirmative. they are now under oath and we will hear a five minute opening statement from each of you. ms. beaton, would you like to start first -- he would like to be last? ms. horton, would you like to be first? will you pull the microphone first and there should be a button, pull the microphone for word. it doesn't pick up as well as it should. >> can you hear me now? >> i can hear you. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen i want to start by thanking the kennedy for the opportunity this morning. i am pleased the congress decided to take a look at rescission so it can understand how damaging this practice has been to so many people across the country. when blue cross canceled my coverage i had no idea what recession meant but now after my life has been turned upside down the past four years of come to u

today we have miss robin beaton, who is a citizen of walksahatchie. so i want to extend to her the very best wishes and let her and the other two panelists on this first panel know that there's nothing to be afraid of. you speak for tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of american citizens. and the country is very interested through the auspices of this hearing to hear your story. we appreciate all three of you being here. this is an important hearing.

beaton all the way down to

this is what happened to one of our witnesses here today, [ applause ] robin beaton. we'll also hear from mr. horton and mr. raddatz where the threat or actual termination of insurance policies cause pain, frustration and great expense. we may be here to discuss valid uses for procedural aspects of recisions, medical underwriting, and other corporate practices. there are some actions we should no longer allow insurance companies to do. playing gotcha with policyholders who have serious illnesses and huge expenses must stop. insurance companies cannot wait until customers are sick or filing claims to verify their medical history and decide whether or not they want them as a customer. this is what they're supposed to be doing when they sign the member up. if the company does not conduct a review of unclear or incomplete information on the application, then the plan should not use subsequently acquired information as a basis for rescinding coverage. this practice is known as post-claims underwriting. the company should conduct its due diligence at the time the applicatio