Americans Oppose Health Care Law But Like Provisions

 A poll indicates that most Americans oppose President Barack Obama's health care reform even though they strongly support most of its provisions. The Reuters-Ipsos poll was conducted last week. 

The Supreme¹ Court is expected to hand down its ruling on a challenge to the president's health care initiative Thursday.

At the heart of the Patient Protection and Affordable² Care Act, called "Obamacare" by its critics, lies the individual mandate³. It requires every U.S. citizen to have health insurance, beginning in 2014, or be subject to a fine.

The Reuters poll says 61 percent of Americans are against the mandate, while 39 percent favor it.

Opponents of the current health care program say the government cannot oblige people to purchase health care and believe the government will intrude⁴ into doctors' decisions and individual care.

The survey says support for other aspects of Obama's health care plan is strong.

82 percent of the respondents favored banning insurance companies from denying coverage⁵ to people with pre-existing conditions.

61 percent favored allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26.

72 percent backed requiring companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance for their employees.

Mitt⁶ Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee⁷, has promised to repeal⁸ the law, if he defeats Obama in the November election. Romney has called for a bipartisan effort to correct what is wrong with American health care.

Obama, who has said he modeled the reforms on a health care plan Romney passed as governor of the of Massachusetts, defends his health care overhaul⁹.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 intrude   

vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰

参考例句：

• I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
• I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

9 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。