密歇根新闻广播 美国人认为奥巴马医改就是在"更坏"和"最坏"中做选择

All this week on Stateside, we look at how the repeal¹ of the Affordable² Care Act, also known as Obamacare, will affect Michigan residents, hospitals and governments.

The future of the Affordable Care Act is in doubt. President-elect Donald Trump³ wants to scrap⁴ it and replace it, and the Republican majority in Congress is on board with that idea.

According to government figures, nationwide, since the Affordable Care Act's coverage⁵ expansion began, about 20 million uninsured people have gained health insurance coverage. Census⁶ data show that the uninsured rate in Michigan in 2015 was cut in half. It's now at 6.1%, down from 12.4% uninsured in 2010.

But, there are problems. Some families are worse off.

Melissa Davert and her two children have a disability called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. It's a brittle⁷ bone condition that causes broken bones, which sometimes require surgery to repair. It means more frequent hospital visits and routine doctor's appointments.

Before the ACA, Melissa Davert and her family had the kind of insurance coverage they needed. After the ACA went into effect, the Daverts could not find the same coverage and anything that met their needs was much more expensive.

The insurance plan the family had originally was canceled due to ACA regulations, Davert said.

"We were surprised," she said, "because we were under the understanding that if you liked your plan, you could keep your plan."

The original plan had an out-of-pocket maximum of $2,500 for both of her children combined. After the ACA, the best new plan the family could find had an out-of-pocket maximum of $5,100 per child. That's almost four times what they were paying before.

"A lot of the policies that came out after the Affordable Care Act had lower premiums⁸, but the benefits were not good if you had to use the insurance," she said.

For the full conversation, including why the family has had to search for a new plan almost every year since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, listen above.

1 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。

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 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。

4 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

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 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

7 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

8 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》