Highlights issues related to the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, about medical care of elderly, which was passed by the House and Senate by overwhelming margins. Role played by Otis Bowen, secretary of Health and Human Services during U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration, in introducing the Medicare bill to the Congress; Stand taken by the American Association of Retired Persons towards the bill; Benefits to the elderly offered by the bill; Reasons why middle and upper income retirees wanted the bill to be repealed; Some basic shortcomings of this bill.