Healthcare-Medicare/Medicaid-Catastrophic Coverage Act-Repeal-Analysis and Reactions-Department of Health and Human Services-HWF, 1988-1989

Congress established the House Select Committee on Aging in 1974, following five years of unofficial existence. As a "select" committee, the Committee on Aging did not have any legislative jurisdiction; however, its reports on several issues led other committees to enact many reforms concerning older Americans. In 1993, the Select Committee on Aging was not refunded in a series of budget-cutting moves and ceased to exist. Congressman Fawell was assigned to this committee during his first term and continued serving on it until the end of the committee. The bulk of the files were removed from the Education and Labor Committee Files because the Select Committee on Aging was a distinct and separate committee. The files represent issues in which Congressman Fawell was involved due to his membership on the Select Committee on Aging. As mentioned above, the Select Committee on Aging did not have legislative jurisdiction, and the files included in this series only pertain to issues which did not go through another committee on which Congressman Fawell served. Also, since the time period is quite distinct, issues pertaining to aging and the elderly may be found within the Issues Files, as Congressman Fawell continued to take an interest in issues concerning older Americans beyond what actions the Education and Labor Committee took. The majority of the files in this series relate to the 100th Congress' passage of the Catastrophic Coverage Act and the 101st Congress' repeal and amendments of the Act. The Catastrophic Coverage Act was originally designed to help senior citizens on Medicare by increasing benefits, especially when catastrophic illness or long-term care drained family financial resources. A huge public reaction in opposition to the necessity and funding of the Act led Congress to repeal the Act the following year. Other files pertain to hearings held by the Select Committee on Aging. The files contain memoranda and notes; newspaper and journal articles; bills and committee reports; "Dear Colleague" letters sent to and received from other members of Congress; and analysis and reactions by organizations, corporations, committee staff and members. Some files are separated strictly by topic, while some are separated by the type of records. The Select Committee on Aging Files were received as two separate series: Congressman Fawell's files and staff files. An alphabetical arrangement scheme was imposed on the records, and the two series were merged. The provenance of the collection was maintained through the folder title entry "-HWF" or "-Staff" to indicate whether the individual file was used or annotated by Congressman Fawell or one (or many) of his staff members.