On October 30, 2009, Congressman Kanjorski, Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, appeared on MSNBC to discuss life settlements. He held a Subcommittee hearing on this issue on September 24, 2009. Life settlements offer individuals the opportunity to sell their existing life insurance contracts and collect a cash disbursement considerably more than an insurer would typically pay for surrendering a policy.