big brothers big sisters program and my little brother was diagnosed with acute large cell nonhodgkins lymphoma, and spent time every day watching young patients with no hair, with i.v.s in their arms or in their chest going into a port, walking around and taking care of each other much better than our health care industry takes care of patients in their time of need. and it's a slander on the names of the health care professionals who do everything they can to keep patients like your brother, like my little brother, alive when we don't give them the support that they need after they have invested their hard-earned dollars by paying premiums to a health care insurance company who turns their back on the patient in their hour of need. and that's why i'm a strong supporter of the public health insurance option. and i'm proud that my colleagues on this committee, chris murphy and peter welsh, have joined me in introducing the choices bill to give health insurance patients a public health insurance option with no discrimination so we don't have to go through these nightmares anymore. with that, i y

i appreciate the fact, particularly for that type of nonhodgkin's lymphoma it may require a specializedtype of care. my frustration as a physician, i cannot tell you the time that is i found another hospital or another way to make it happen and not wait the lengths of time that you all are discussing. mrs. ms. baiten, in tarrant county there's a county hospital. did anyone ever try to help you through that tangle to try to get any care through john peter smith? >> i couldn't qualify for that. but what i did do was moved in with my sister so i could declare residency and i went to the dallas county hospital and tried to get tlep. you get on a waiting list for a mastectomy and three or four times i went there and they lost my medical records and said, why are you here. i'm here, i have cancer. i need a mastectomy. and they said we'll put you on the waiting list. i believe my name still wouldn't be on the waiting list. they never even contacted me back. i'm thankful to say in trying to get help windy going to county hospitals and applying to county hospitals, mr. barton got my insurance re

in september of 2004, my 59-year-old brother at the time was diagnosed with stage four n n nonhodgkin's lymphoma. he started treatment. due to the aggressive cancer he had, he was given six more rounds of chemo by january of 2005. he suffered a lot during the period of time and was often unable to work. he was referred to a specialist in stem cell transplantation and for high dose chemotherapy. he began this for purposes of preparing him for stem cell implant. these treatments were long and difficult in nature. in the middle of the chemo treatments he received a phone call and letter from the insurance company stating his insurance was cancelled. it was rescinded all the way back to the effective date of august 7, 2004, which was before his diagnosis for cancer. this meant none of his cancer treatments would be covered at all. most importantly, he would not be able to receive the stem cell transplant needed to save his life. my brother only had a very small window of time in which to have the stem cell transplant. he needed to be scheduled within the next three to four weeks or he wouldn't be ab