my name is peggy redittz and i'm testifying on behalf of my brother. my brother was a business owner of a restaurant that he ran with his wife, marie. he purchased a health insurance policy from fortus insurance company in august of 2003. on the application, he indicated he had kidney stones and smoked. he listed all physicians who had treated him. it will health application was accepted and is h his coverage began in august of 2003. a yearlater, my brother found himself inexplainbly losing a large amount of weight. his wife, marie, urged him to see a doctor. 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 diffic