The text of a congressional hearing on a bill to provide catastropic health insurance coverage for elderly and disabled Americans is presented in this document. Statements are given by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Orrin G. Hatch, Brock Adams, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., Strom Thurmond, Tom Harkin, Dan Quayle, Gordon J. Humphrey, Jim Sasser, and Representative Claude Pepper. Testimony is presented by Otis R. Bowen, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Jacob Clayman, president of the National Council of Senior Citizens. Prepared statements of the following individuals or groups are included: (1) medical associations; (2) health care providers; (3) representatives of health insurers; (4) a professor of health policy studies; (5) representatives of advocacy groups; and (6) an individual who had endured financial problems because of her husband's long-term illness. (ABL)