美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Administration Freezes Payments Required By The Affordable Care Act

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Over the weekend, the Trump¹ administration announced that it is freezing billions of dollars in payments to insurance companies under the Affordable² Care Act. The so-called risk adjustment payments are designed to help stabilize³ insurance markets. As NPR's Maggie Penman reports, the administration is citing a ruling earlier this year from a district court judge in New Mexico as the reason for this sudden change.

MAGGIE PENMAN, BYLINE⁴: On Saturday afternoon, the Trump administration announced that it will withhold⁵ more than $10 billion in risk adjustment payments to insurers. Basically, risk adjustment payments take money from insurers that cover healthier, cheaper patients and give it to insurers that cover sicker and therefore costlier⁶ patients, removing the financial incentive⁷ for plans to cherry-pick only healthy people to cover. Suddenly halting these payments creates enormous uncertainty⁸ in the market at a time when insurers are trying to make decisions for next year.

LARRY LEVITT: And insurers hate uncertainty and, when faced with it, tend to raise premiums⁹ to hedge their bets.

PENMAN: Larry Levitt is senior vice¹⁰ president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. He says some insurers might choose not to participate in the exchanges next year at all.

LEVITT: When the rules of the game change after the fact, insurers don't necessarily see the federal government as a particularly reliable partner.

PENMAN: America's Health Insurance Plans, the trade association for insurers, put out a statement essentially¹¹ saying just that - that this move will increase premiums for consumers and small businesses and reduce coverage¹² options. The Trump administration said it had to stop the payments because of a ruling in a federal district court in New Mexico this past February. The ruling found fault with the formula used to calculate the payments. But another district court in Massachusetts upheld the formula.

LEVITT: Normally, you would expect an administration to look for ways to minimize the uncertainty and minimize the effect as these legal cases play out. So it seems like an extreme step to halt this program nationally based on a decision by one district court judge.

RODNEY WHITLOCK: What you have to keep in mind is ultimately the intent of the administration.

PENMAN: Rodney Whitlock is a lobbyist and former Republican aide. He says it's not surprising that the administration would take this opportunity to dismantle¹³ an important part of the ACA.

WHITLOCK: The executive order the president signed not long after he got to the White House after the parade - it was effectively, we're declaring war on the Affordable Care Act.

PENMAN: Whitlock says the administration is simply making good on that promise and finding legal justifications¹⁴ for how to do it. Maggie Penman, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARMS AND SLEEPERS' "UNSHIELD")

1 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。

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 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

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 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

6 costlier   

adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather. 鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。 来自互联网
• Disagreements among creditors can be costlier still. 债权人之间的分歧会加大重组的费用。 来自互联网

7 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 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》

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 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。

13 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。

14 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。