美国国家公共电台 NPR With Federal Funds Cut, Others Must Lead Health Insurance Sign-Up Efforts

 

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Starting November 1, people will be able to enroll¹ in health insurance for next year on the Affordable² Care Act marketplace. In Texas, officials from the federal government used to get the word out. This year, though, that work is falling to local governments and activists³. Ashley Lopez from KUT in Austin reports.

ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE⁴: Victoria Ortega is sitting at a desk with a laptop open to a spreadsheet. Her screen is full of names, and her cellphone is in her hand.

VICTORIA ORTEGA: So far I've had about 15, maybe 18 calls.

LOPEZ: Ortega works at Foundation Communities in Austin and has been calling people who currently have an insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This online marketplace was created for people who don't get health insurance from an employer, Medicaid or Medicare. Ortega is letting these folks know it's time to sign up again.

ORTEGA: (Speaking Spanish) Obamacare.

LOPEZ: Ortega also stresses that people have less time to sign up this year. During the last enrollment⁵ period, folks had three months to sign up. This year, in most states, they only have six weeks.

ORTEGA: A lot of the people were not aware of the short time, and they are very interested. They really are wanting to renew.

LOPEZ: Foundation Communities is among groups in Texas working hard this year to get the word out about open enrollment. That's because the Trump⁶ administration's health department, known as HHS, slashed⁷ money for advertising⁸ by 90 percent this year. Maggie Jo Buchanan works with a group called Young Invincibles which works to get young adults signed up.

MAGGIE JO BUCHANAN: All of us nonprofits on the ground really feel that urgency and that need. You know, in past open enrollment periods, officials from HHS would be on the ground and, you know, announcing the start of open enrollment and getting media outreach. We're just not (laughter) going to see that.

BUCHANAN: In the state's bigger cities, local taxpayers⁹ are also filling in the gap.

LOPEZ: Austin is spending a lot more money this year on open enrollment. Michelle Tijerina works for Central Health, which provides health care to low-income people, funded by local property taxes.

MICHELLE TIJERINA: We'll have ads in radio - English and Spanish. We'll be on Facebook. We'll have Google ads and banners. We'll be out in the community talking to residents. We'll be in the schools.

LOPEZ: Tijerina says Central Health is also hiring twice as many people, known as navigators, to help folks sign up once enrollment starts. The Trump administration also cut Texas's navigator budget by a third. But, she says, folks in Austin likely won't feel those cuts.

TIJERINA: Because Central Health has been dedicated¹⁰ to providing so many local efforts to our residents.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Spanish).

LOPEZ: Back at Foundation Communities, Elizabeth Colvin says she worries about rural parts of Texas, though.

ELIZABETH COLVIN: Because those programs have lost funding and there's no one in those communities to step up and replace the navigators who are no longer funded for those communities.

LOPEZ: These areas don't have the same local health care infrastructure¹¹. And Texas did not expand Medicaid to more low-income people under the Affordable Care Act. So the marketplace has been the main driver in lowering uninsured rates in the state in the past several years. Even with the Affordable Care Act, though, Texas has maintained the highest number and rate of uninsured people in the country.

For NPR News, I'm Ashley Lopez in Austin.

BLOCK: This story is part of a reporting partnership¹² with NPR, KUT and Kaiser Health 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 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 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

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 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。