he told me, i was diagnosed with non hodgkin's lymphoma. it is a matter of extreme urgency that receive my transplant in three weeks. please help me so i can help by transplant rescheduled. the iowa attorney general's office wants an investigation and confirmed that his doctor had never even told him about the test findings and sent two letters to press the insurance company to reinstate his policy. the company relented and he got his transplant and was able to live through more years before passing away. he was one of the lucky ones. this committee has concluded an investigation and results are alarming. over the past five years, almost 40,000 insurance policyholders have had their policy rescinded by three insurance companies that will testify today. from a preview of case files, they include an every case in which the policyholder submits a claim. resending policies based on policyholders failure to disclose a condition after doctors never told about it. resending policy is based on policyholders and rescinding coverage for all families

madam speaker, i want to talk to you this morning about hodgkin's yachts of maine. hodgkin brothers opened for business in 1816 and is the oldest continually operated shipyard in the united states. tim is a fifth generation boat builder continuing a long and proud tradition. it has taken maine's tradition of world class craftsmanship and combined it with new technology in advances in composites to build their business and create good paying sustainable jobs in our state. for example, in the small town of richmond, maine, they have created a facility to build boat interiors. between 60 and 70 new jobs have been created there in the last six months alone and they believe they can double the size of that operation in the next year. and just this week, they were given a maine technology institute grant for nearly $4 million to take the first steps towards building a 30,000 square foot facility that would create hundreds of more jobs building high speed patrol boats of the future. they are just one example of the innovative companies doing business in maine aggressively

auto rads was a 59 year-old auto owner was a cross with an aggressive form of non hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. he underwent intensive chemotherapy and was told that he had to have a stem cell transplants in order to survive. with coverage provided by his individual insurance policy he was scheduled to have the procedure performed but then his insurance company said and i told him it was going to cancel his insurance coverage. he cannot pay for the transplant without health insurance. the stem cell transplant surgery was canceled. the insurance company told him that it found when he applied for his insurance he had not told the company about a test that had shown that he might have gallstones and an aneurysm or weakness of the blood vessel wall. in fact, his doctor had never told him about these test results, he did not have any symptoms and these conditions do not have anything to do with his cancer of the interest company was going to rescind his policy. effectively tearing up the contract as it never happened and it would not pay for his stem cell transplants.

in september of 2004, my 59-year-old brother at the time was diagnosed with stage 4 non-hodgkins type lymphoma. the very next day, he began an intensive course of chemotherapy treatments. due to the aggressive type of cancer he had he was given six more rounds of chemotherapy by january of 2005. he suffered a lot during this period of time and was often unable to work. also referred to a specialist stem cell transplantation for high dose fi chemotherapy kagan more chemo to prepare for a stem cell transplant. these treatments work long and difficult in nature. in the midst of the chemo treatment he received a phone call in her letter from the insurance company stating his insurance was canceled. it was rescinded all the way back to the effective date of august 7, 2004. which was before his diagnosis for cancer. this month none of his cancer treatments would be covered at all. most importantly, he would not be able to receive the stem cell treatment needed to save his life. my brother only have a small window of time and which to have the stem cell transplants. he needed to be scheduled

allowed or offered no other option and i appreciate the fact that particularly for that type of non-hodgkin's lymphoma that it may require a very specialized types of care. my frustration is as the physician, i just cannot tell you the times i found another hospital or another way to make it happen and not wait links of time that you all are discussing. there is, there is a county hospital. was that ever-- did anyone ever tried to help you through the that fangled, to try to get care through john peter smith? >> i could not qualify for that but what they did do is i moved in with my sister for a while so i could declare residency and went to parkland hospital and the dallas county hospital, tried to get help there. i was on a waiting list for a mastectomy and 34 times that went there and they lost my medical records. they said, why are you here? i have cancer and i need to get a mastectomy. they said we will put you on the waiting list. i believe with all my heart my name would still be on the waiting list because they never contacted me that but i'm thankful to say come and try to get help l