Here We Go Again: Rostenkowski, Health Care and the Original Town-Hall Protest

Back in 1989, the Democrat House, led by Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, passed the ‘Catastrophic Health Care Act.’ The Act promised to expand coverage and benefits, financed by a surcharge on senior’s existing Medicare benefits. Passage of the Act sparked on outcry from seniors. CBSNews goes back into the archives to find footage of one of the protests.

The report forgets to mention that Congress quickly repealed the Catastrophic Act in response to the voter backlash. Something current Members of Congress might want to keep in mind.

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