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. it addresses part of the need to reform our health care system. we're going to hear today about a problem under the current system that can occur in the handling of individual health insurance policies when claims are actually submitted for coverage under those policies. as i just said, i want to extend a warm welcome to our first panel of witnesses, each of you has a personal story that you wish to share. and we know that it's a story that is worth hearing. we also know that it takes courage to testify. and as i just said, there's nothing to be afraid of at this hearing today. we hear of pro

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.

robin beaton. no one should have to go through what she's had to go through the last several years. in june of last year, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. and her doctor said she needed immediate surgery. the friday before the monday that she was to undergo a double mastectomy, she received a letter from her carrier, blue cross of texas, that rescinded her insurance policy. the letter stated that the company would not pay for the surgery. the letter further informed miss beaton that an investigation into her claim for benefits with the company had thoroughly reviewed her medical records, that she submitted when she applied for the coverage, and that they discovered that she had misinformed them on several pieces of information. one of them was that she didn't list her weight accurately. and the other, that she failed to disclose some medication that she had taken for a pre-existing heart condition. the record will show she was not taking that medication at the time she submitted her initial application for coverage. robin's claim in june of 2008 was not fo

our first panel we have robin beaton, who is a policyholder from walkahatchee, texas. miss peggy raddatz from illinois. and miss wittney horton from los angeles, california. welcome all of you. thank you for coming. it's the policy of the subcommittee to take all testimony under oath. please be advised that you have a right under the rules of the house to be advised by counsel during your testimony. do you wish to be represent the by counsel during your testimony? you're all shaking your heads no? so -- okay. i'm going to ask you to please rise and raise your right hand to take the oath. 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 firs

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