美国国家公共电台 NPR Elizabeth Warren's Ambiguity On Health Care Comes With Some Side Effects

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some Democrats¹ are waiting to learn what health care plan Elizabeth Warren really favors. The presidential candidate endorsed² "Medicare for All," the plan of her rival, Bernie Sanders. Yet some of her critics doubt she means it, and some supporters see signs that she's open to alternatives. NPR's Asma Khalid reports.

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE³: Elizabeth Warren's plans are her brand. Her campaign sells T-shirts proclaiming, Warren has a plan for that. But you can't say that about health care.

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ELIZABETH WARREN: Medicare for All is the cheapest possible way to provide health care coverage⁴ for everyone.

KHALID: Warren has been pressed on how she'll pay for it, and she has sidestepped that question for months. Last week, Warren told voters at a town hall in Iowa that she would soon be putting out a plan that explains how she intends to pay for Medicare for All.

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WARREN: It's still got a little bit more work before it's ready to roll out.

KHALID: And then she reiterated⁵ a point she's made before.

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WARREN: I will not sign a bill into law that does not reduce the cost of health care for middle-class families. That's what matters to them, and that's what matters to me.

(APPLAUSE)

CHRIS JENNINGS: This is the one area where her lack of directness stands in contrast with all her other policy visions and message approaches.

KHALID: Chris Jennings was a senior health care adviser⁶ to President Barack Obama.

JENNINGS: To me, that inconsistency is hurting more than even the policy itself.

KHALID: In other words, being vague could undermine her brand. More than a decade ago, Warren supported universal single-payer health care, but she also seemed to recognize that it might not be politically acceptable. Earlier in the campaign cycle, she referred to Medicare for All as a framework and acknowledged that she could see a role for private insurance. But on the debate stage, she has tethered herself to Bernie Sanders' vision.

Still, some voters and old colleagues don't think Warren is as resolute⁷ on health care as Sanders. The frequency with which people bring up that perception is noteworthy. I met Donna Mombourquette last month at the New Hampshire Democratic Party state convention as she grabbed some popcorn⁸ between candidate speeches. She told me she would not support Bernie Sanders.

DONNA MOMBOURQUETTE: I believe we need to improve Obamacare, have a public option. I think that's the better way to go.

KHALID: But in the next breath, she told me Elizabeth Warren was one of her top choices.

MOMBOURQUETTE: I think that she's probably going to be more open to moderating her positions to bring in more voters.

KHALID: Mombourquette recently endorsed Pete Buttigieg - the mayor of South Bend, Ind. - but she told me she still likes Warren also. There is a sense among some people who like Warren, though, that her support for Medicare for All is kind of out of character.

TOM MCGARITY: Well, I was a little surprised recently that she came out in favor of Medicare for All, which I think is going to be a really expensive proposition.

KHALID: Tom McGarity is a fan of Warren's. He taught with her at The University of Texas law school in the early 1980s.

MCGARITY: It's not well-defined. And one thing about Liz is - at least politically, is she's - usually, before she comes out with something, she wants to see - she defines it better.

KHALID: The Warren campaign has not responded to questions about whether she could eventually compromise on this issue. Other candidates in this race support a public option, a government-run insurance plan that would be an optional alternative to private insurance, and polling shows that is more popular than a mandatory⁹ Medicare for All system that would eliminate private insurance.

It is not uncommon¹⁰ to meet die-hard Warren supporters who are lukewarm about Medicare for All. Kimberly Winick is a huge Warren supporter who also worked as Warren's research assistant for a couple of years during law school. Winick says she's not sure that Medicare for All is the right answer.

KIMBERLY WINICK: And so the real question isn't whether you support every plank¹¹ of the platform, but whether you think the person who is standing¹² at the top there is somebody whom you can trust.

KHALID: And Winick says she trusts Warren. She feels she's pragmatic.

WINICK: I also know that down the road, if it becomes implausible, impractical¹³, impossible to do those things, she'll consider alternatives.

KHALID: But pragmatism is not what Warren has been selling on the campaign trail; she talks about dreaming big. It's not clear how much wiggle room, if any, Warren has on Medicare for All, but health care consultant¹⁴ Chris Jennings thinks she has a bit.

JENNINGS: Her fan base will give her more credit for trying to go as far as she possibly can.

KHALID: And then, if she has to trim it back, Jennings says he thinks she'll have more room for compromise than some other candidates.

JENNINGS: She's viewed as a fighter and that she won't compromise just to compromise; she'll compromise to get something done.

KHALID: The big question is whether the woman who claims to have a plan for almost anything has a plan that can satisfy her critics.

Asma Khalid, NPR News.

1 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》

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

8 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

9 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

10 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

11 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

14 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。