That plan focuses on one type of catastrophic cost: an elderly person's hospitalization and physician expenses above $2,000.

Congress approved the program last year to protect the elderly against the catastrophic costs of an extended major illness.

But most companies with more than 100 employees will not be affected because they spread the risk of catastrophic medical costs across a large group.

Allows Medicare beneficiaries to establish special savings accounts to pay medical expenses, provided they buy private insurance to cover catastrophic costs.

Those who are exempt, or under 30, can buy a policy that only pays for catastrophic medical costs.

But the tax breaks would be available only to people who insured themselves against catastrophic medical costs by buying insurance with high deductibles.

Preferred provider plans would offer benefits not available through traditional Medicare, including extra preventive services and protection against catastrophic medical costs.

If nuclear power "makes economic sense," so did coal and oil - until we began to face the catastrophic cost of global warming.

They are unprotected from standard or catastrophic medical costs.

In 1988, Congress passed a bill that offered the elderly increased protection from the catastrophic costs of long-term hospitalization.