Catastrophic Illness Insurance Plan Not Enough, Seniors Say

WASHINGTON —  Health and Human Services Secretary Otis R. Bowen’s plan to insure Medicare beneficiaries against catastrophic illness was criticized Tuesday as inadequate to meet the medical needs of elderly Americans.

Representatives of elderly citizens’ organizations told a Senate hearing that Bowen’s proposal would only help a small percentage of older Americans and would not cover the cost of long-term nursing home care.

“The secretary’s proposal to protect beneficiaries against potentially catastrophic acute care is a minimal one,” Robert Maxwell, vice president of the American Assn. of Retired Persons, told the hearing called by Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.).

“The $2,000 annual cap on co-insurance and deductibles would hardly protect an elderly person of limited means from financial catastrophe,” Maxwell said.

Under Bowen’s plan, which is being reviewed by the Reagan Administration, beneficiaries would pay $4.92 a month for protection against any expenses that exceed $2,000 a year.