commissioner gerhart, thanks for being here. it's great to have someone representing iowa and sharing our concerns on the panel today. i enjoyed your testimony only because it's the same thing i have heard over and over again as i'm traveling across iowa. what i don't enjoy about that is the fact that the stories being shared by our wonderful iowa families are stories of hardship and what the aca has done to their families. we all have very serious concerns about how our families will be able to continue to afford the affordable care act. those insurance policies. i hate to say i agree with you, that iowans and folks across the country are in a situation where they are attempting to decide, do i pay for my mortgage or purchase health insurance? i have heard that time and time again. it's either a mortgage payment because the insurance costs are so much more than previously. is it a car payment? a truck payment? a tractor payment? there are so many considerations families are making they didn't have to make a number of years ago.

this morning, attorney general tom miller and iowa insurance commissioner nick gerhart will join cedar rapids city leaders at their flood briefing. they will address consumer protection and insurance claims that particularly affect f starting to open across the city. this morning, edgewood road crossing the cedar river is open. the city says downtown bridges should be open to traffic saturday. that includes all i-380 ramps leading into the downtown area. bus service will also resume saturday. and starting monday, the linn county-cedar rapids solid waste agency will start collecting garbage and recycling within the evacuation they can put out their normal trash container plus two 35-gallon bags for free. the final flood barriers are down and all the male inmates are back in jail at the linn county courthouse this morning. the county moved them to other facilities last weekend. workers are still removing flood barriers from the sheriff's office. that's set to re-open monday. progress isn't coming along as quickly for cedar rapids city hall. it might not reopen for up to 30 days. the city

this morning, attorney general tom miller and iowa insurance commissioner nick gerhart will join cedar rapids city leaders at their flood briefing. they will address consume that particularly affect flood victims. roads and bridges are also starting to open across the city. this morning, edgewood road crossing the cedar river is open. the city says downtown bridges should be open to traffic saturday. that includes all i-380 ramps leading into the downtown area. bus service will also resume saturday. and starting monday, the linn county-cedar rapids solid waste agency will start collecting garbage and recycling within the without trash pickup for a week, they can put out their normal trash container plus two 35-gallon bags for free. the final flood barriers are down and all the male inmates are back in jail at the linn county courthouse this morning. the county moved them to other facilities last weekend. workers are still removing flood barriers from the sheriff's office. that's set to re-open monday. progress isn't coming along as quickly for cedar rapids city hall. it might not reope

. >> it is my honor to introduce nick gerhart. nick has served our great state as commissioner since february 2013. and we appreciate your service, commissioner. and he also serves on the national association of insurance commissioners executive committee. it makes him an excellent witness for us to today to talk about this important topic. thank you, commissioner for traveling to washington, d.c. to share your expertise with this committee and the audience members. thank you, commissioner. thank you, mr. chair. >> good morning, chairman johnson and ranking member carper and the esteemed members of the committee. it is an honor to be here. i want to focus on the duty of an insurance commissioner, the rates and what's happening at the kitchen table to the members of our state and the highlights to fix some of these issues. i did submit written testimony which is a much longer outline of those potential fixes. as an insurance commissioner in the state of iowa we're a state of 3 million people. we know the folks these are impacting.

. >> ralph gerhart. >> robert gurlick. >> dennis p.a lee gibbon. >> james andrew gaverson. >> brenda c. gibson. >> craig neil gibson. >> ronny e. geese. >> andrew clyde gilbert. >> and my big brother, joseph michael giaconni. he was only 43 years old. 15 years are like 15 seconds. the hurt is still there. the hole is still there. you live on through your family. we miss you every day. and everyone, tell someone you love them today. >> and on behalf of our entire family, i'm honored to stand here and say my brother, thomas francis swift, thomas, we love you and we miss you with all our hearts. [ applause ] [ bell ringing ]