Medicare catastrophic coverage: a postmortem

As we move beyond the 1980s, it is worth reflecting on the rise and fall of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-360). Hailed by nearly everyone at its passage as both sensible and needed, it died less than two years later without ever becoming viable. Attacked vigorously by the elderly whom it was designed to serve, the measure finally succumbed to political pressure and passed from the scene, except for some items relating to Medicaid, on the first day of this year. This article examines the Act and the circumstances that led to its demise.