Revisiting an old spat, Carter blames Kennedy for lack of health care overhaul in 1970s

Former President Jimmy Carter says Americans could have had comprehensive health care coverage decades ago if Sen. Edward M. Kennedy hadn't blocked a plan Carter had proposed.

Carter revisited the old spat in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday. Portions of the interview, prompted by the publication of his White House diary, were posted on the program's website Thursday.

"The fact is that we would have had comprehensive health care now, had it not been for Ted Kennedy's deliberately blocking the legislation that I proposed," Carter said in the interview. "It was his fault. Ted Kennedy killed the bill."

Carter cast his Democratic rival as spiteful. "He did not want to see me have a major success in that realm of life," Carter said.