美国国家公共电台 NPR--Open enrollment for ACA insurance has already had a record year for sign-ups

Open enrollment² for ACA insurance has already had a record year for sign-ups

Transcript³

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Enrollment in Obamacare set a record again this year. Nearly 16 million people have signed up so far. And in many states, there are still a few more days to enroll¹. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin explains why these health insurance plans have become more popular.

SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE⁴: First of all, the plans are cheaper for people than they used to be. The government has pumped billions of dollars into subsidies⁵ to keep costs down for consumers. Another reason why more people are signing up - there's more help.

KATIE RODERS TURNER: This year, we really caught our stride.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: That's Katie Roders Turner. She runs the Family Healthcare Foundation, which is part of the Tampa Bay Navigator Project in Florida. Navigators help people understand their options, decide on a plan and get signed up for it - all for free. They're paid through government grants. The Trump⁶ administration slashed⁷ funding for navigators. The Biden administration shored it up. The Tampa Bay Navigator Project went from having a team of 16 navigators to, this year, having 35.

RODERS TURNER: So we've been really able to spread out the need and the demand amongst those navigators.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: One of the people her organization helped recently was Erin Dimmig. She and her husband, Tyler, are 30 years old. They live in Plant City, Fla. And right now, she is, as she puts it, very pregnant. She's due with her first child in February.

ERIN DIMMIG: My husband got a new job offer. And that puts him in a 90-day insurance gap, and we were due in 60 days.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: They couldn't afford to keep paying for the insurance he'd had through his old job. COBRA was going to cost them $1,600 a month, and that plan had been expensive for them anyway. She Googled her way to healthcare.gov, the federal insurance marketplace, which Florida and lots of other states use, and she started to answer questions, like size of household, income...

DIMMIG: Once you click the you're-pregnant button, it asks you all sorts of confusing questions, and I was absolutely in over my head. So I, like, went to the find-help place.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Localhelp.healthcare.gov has a directory to find navigators in your area. Erin found a local community center on the list and called them.

DIMMIG: I called, and they were like, well, Jorge comes in on Thursday.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So the Dimmigs went to see Jorge Masson. She was so stressed she would be uninsured when she went into labor⁸.

DIMMIG: But then he found me the plan. And then he told me all of the things, and I realized how much money it was going to save us. I cried in his office. I cried when we found out that we were going to be saving a lot of money.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She estimates it's going to save them $9,000 compared to their old plan. They're not done with health insurance. After the baby's born, they'll need to add the baby to their plan, decide whether to sign up for her husband's new employer-based plan when he becomes eligible⁹.

DIMMIG: Jorge said that he would help walk us through that.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So she's not worried. Roders Turner says the Dimmigs aren't alone.

RODERS TURNER: People have been really pleased with the cost of the insurance plans and the options that they have.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Federal health officials say 4 out of 5 enrollees qualify for plans that cost $10 or less per month, and 5 million people who are uninsured qualify for $0 premium¹⁰ plans. They haven't signed up either because they don't know about the plans, or they assume they're not eligible. Enrollment is still open on the federal health exchange, healthcare.gov, and in most state marketplaces until Sunday, January 15.

Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.

1 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

2 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。