美国国家公共电台 NPR Part Of Oregon's Funding Plan For Medicaid Goes Before Voters

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

When the Affordable¹ Care Act became law, the state of Oregon embraced it. As a result, some 95 percent of Oregonians now have health insurance, one of the highest rates in the nation. That's due in part to Medicaid expansion. Today, that's going to be put to the test as Oregonians vote on the tax package to pay for it.

Kristian Foden-Vencil of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.

KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL, BYLINE²: The federal government gave states plenty of notice that Medicaid payments would be trimmed after the Affordable Care Act was introduced. So here in Oregon, Democrats³ joined with Republicans, hospital owners and health insurance CEOs to come up with a tax to pay for it. Even though it's hundreds of millions of dollars a year, hospitals and insurance companies agreed to pay it. But under state law here, voters can use the initiative process to collect signatures and force a public vote on a new tax. And that's what Julie Parrish did.

JULIE PARRISH: They passed the tax to the people without a lobbyist - right? - small businesses, mom-and-pop businesses, individuals who have to buy their own.

FODEN-VENCIL: Parrish is a Republican state representative who grew up on Medicaid. But she doesn't like the tax package. She says it's inequitable because it doesn't apply to big corporations and unions.

PARRISH: This was about a fundamental disagreement that taxing other people's insurance is the way to fund Medicaid.

FODEN-VENCIL: So Measure 101 is now on the ballot⁴. Some Republicans want a no vote. They don't like the new tax. And they don't trust the Oregon Health Authority with the money. On the yes side are all kinds of advocacy groups and the vast majority of Oregon's health organizations, who say 48 other states have some form of this new tax.

Andy Van Pelt⁵ is the executive director of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.

ANDY VAN PELT: The alternative of lack of coverage⁶ - we're talking kids, seniors, people with disabilities - is unacceptable.

FODEN-VENCIL: He says it's cheaper to treat people with health insurance than to treat them without insurance when they turn up sick in emergency rooms anyway.

VAN PELT: There's a real possibility that people could lose their coverage. It will just destabilize the Medicaid program for hundreds of thousands of people. And that would be utter chaos⁷.

FODEN-VENCIL: While the Trump⁸ administration hasn't managed to repeal⁹ the Affordable Care Act, it has taken several steps to dismantle¹⁰ it. The effect of Measure 101 on Oregon's Medicaid expansion remains¹¹ to be seen. But if it fails, state lawmakers will spend the next couple of months searching for new ways to pay for it.

For NPR News, I'm Kristian Foden-Vencil in Portland.

1 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。

2 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。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 pelt   

v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火

参考例句：

• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。
• Crowds started to pelt police cars with stones.人群开始向警车扔石块。

6 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。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 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。

9 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。

10 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。