时差N小时 医疗保险

By the early 1950s, it was becoming apparent that a growing number of elderly Americans had no economic protection from the increasing cost of health care.

一直到19世纪60年代早期的时候，很明显的是，随着医疗保险费用的增加，越来越多的美国老年人没有经济保障。

Most people over 65 had very low incomes and few owned private health insurance of any kind. Congress began a years–long debate on this issue of national health insurance for the elderly.

大部分超过65岁的人有极低的收入来源，而且很少会有人有任何一种私人医疗保险。国会关于老年人医疗补助的事儿展开了为期多年的讨论。

Critics in Congress feared Medicare would lead to substandard and overpriced care, and felt that it should serve only the indigent¹.

国会上引发的那些争论可能会引发低标准却费用过高的医保，而且还有一点让人担忧的是它可能只受益于穷人。

They also predicted that, with growing numbers participating, it would eventually bankrupt the federal Treasury².

他们也在预测，随着越来越多的参与度，联邦财政部最终可能会破产。

The legislative³ compromise that became the final Medicare Act – officially known as the "Social Security Amendments⁴ of 1965” – was part of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" program.

立法认为,最终的医疗保险法案将正式被称为“1965年的社会安全修正案——林登·约翰逊总统的“伟大社会”项目的一部分。

Today it protects more than 40 million Americans from the high cost of hospital care.

现今它使得超过4千万的美国人都享受到了医疗保险，免除了就医的高昂费用。

Much of the program's costs are covered by payroll⁵ taxes paid by workers.

项目的大部分费用都是工人的工资税。

Yet costs quickly started to exceed expectations, and as Americans' life expectancy⁶ increased over the years, the Medicare program became even more expensive.

然后这些费用很快就都超出了人们的预期，正如这些年来，美国人的预期寿命在上涨一样，医保也变得越来越昂贵。

It has become a matter of national debate and a financial issue for every Congress and President since.

自此这已经变成了一个国内争论的焦点问题，每个国会和总理的财政问题。

Today it is still one of the fastest growing items in the federal budget. Nonetheless, Medicare remains⁷ a popular program, and a well–established part of the federal government's role in our society.

如今在政府预算中医保还是一个快速增长的款项。除此之外，医保还是一个很受欢迎的项目，还是联邦政府中相对完善的一部分。

1 indigent   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的

参考例句：

• The town government is responsible for assistance to indigent people.镇政府负责给穷人提供帮助。
• A judge normally appoints the attorney for an indigent defendant at the defendant's first court appearence.法官通常会在贫穷被告人第一次出庭时，为其指派一名辩护律师。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

5 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

6 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

7 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。