mr. dingle for an opening statement, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i commend you for holding this hearing on the rather vicious practice of post-claims underwriting. and the detrimental effect that such practices have on hundreds of americans. and i want to thank the witnesses for appearing in what i hope will be an inform a tiff hearing today on which the committee may begin some actions to correct what appears to be a very serious abuse. i remember mr. barton, the way we worked together on this in your outrage last year when we were addressing similar questions. health care costs have risen sharply. in response to this insurance providers who have taken drastic measures to reduce costs and improve profit margins. unfortunately the health insurance industry has attempted to do soy giving in to unscrupulous industry practices, including the practice of post-claims underwriting. i want to be clear, i have no sympathy for individuals who intentionally misrepresent their health status in the applications they submit for health insurance coverage. these