VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - Health Care Law Upheld, but Republicans Plan Fight（在线收听）

IN THE NEWS - Health Care Law Upheld, but Republicans Plan Fight

新闻报道 - 美国高法裁决支持医保法案 共和党筹划新一轮斗争

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。

This week, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the government can require people to have health insurance or pay a financial penalty. Thursday's decision came on a vote of five to four and represented a major victory for President Obama.

本周，美国最高法院裁定，政府有权强制个人购买医疗保险或缴纳罚款。周四的裁决以5：4的票数尘埃落定，这代表了奥巴马总统的一项重大胜利。

In twenty-ten, he pushed Congress to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act against opposition by Republicans. A major part of the law is known as the individual mandate. Starting in twenty-fourteen, most Americans will have to get insurance coverage or pay a yearly penalty.

2010年，奥巴马逆着共和党的反对意见，推动国会通过了《患者保护和可负担护理法案》。该法案的一个重要组成部分被称为“强制医保”。从2014年开始，大多数美国人将必须购买医保，或缴纳年度性罚款。

Most court watchers had expected the ruling to center on the question of whether or not the penalty was constitutional under the Commerce Clause. This part of the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate business between states. Opponents of the health care law argued that the clause does not give Congress the power to require people to buy a product.

多数法庭观察人士此前曾预计，裁决将聚焦于根据（美国宪法中的）贸易条款，这项罚款是否违宪。宪法中的这部分内容赋予国会调控各州之间贸易的权力。医保法案的反对者认为，该条款并未赋予国会强制个人购买产品的权力。

The court majority agreed. However, Chief Justice John Roberts used a different part of the Constitution to find that the mandate is legal: Even though the law never calls the penalty a "tax," it acts like one and Congress has the power to tax.

法院多数派对此表示认同。然而，首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨（John Roberts）采用宪法中的另一部分内容，认定这种“强制”合法。他表示，即使法律从未将该罚款称作税，但它的作用就像税，而国会有权征税。

The four dissenting justices argued in a joint opinion that the entire law is unconstitutional.

四名持不同意见的法官共同认为，整部法案是违宪的。

President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, June 28, 2012, after the Supreme Court ruled on his health care legislation 

President Obama called the ruling a victory for all Americans.

奥巴马总统称这项裁决是所有美国人的胜利。

BARACK OBAMA: "Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country, whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court's decision to uphold it."

奥巴马：“不管什么政治，今天的裁决对这个国家的所有人来说是一项胜利，他们的生活将会更加安定，因为有该法案和最高法院裁决的支持。”

Most Americans buy health insurance through their employers. The law aims to provide insurance to about thirty million more people who are not covered through a job. The poor are covered by Medicaid, a joint federal and state program.

多数美国人通过雇主购买医保。该法案旨在为近3千万没有通过工作获得医保覆盖的人提供保险。穷人通过联邦和各州联合推出的低收入人口医疗补助项目（Medicaid）获得医保覆盖。

The health care law requires states to establish online marketplaces called exchanges. These are for individuals and small businesses to shop for health plans -- in some cases, with tax credits to help people pay for them.

医保法案要求各州建立被称为保险交易中心（exchanges）的网上市场。这是让个人和小型企业购买医保计划的市场--在某些情况下，通过税收优惠帮助人们购买医保。

The law contains several provisions with strong public support. One bars insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions. Another bars lifetime limits on coverage payments. The law also allows young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans until the age of twenty-six.

该法案包含了拥有强大民意支持的若干规定。其中一条规定禁止保险公司拒绝为存在过往病史者投保。另一条规定禁止在医保金额上增加年龄限制。该法案还允许年轻人在26岁前通过父母的保险计划获得医保覆盖。

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion for the court and was the deciding vote. He sided with the four more liberal members of the court. This came as a surprise. The chief justice is generally conservative, and conservatives hotly oppose the individual mandate.

首席大法官罗伯茨撰写了法院的多数派意见，他也是决定性的一票。他站在法院四名自由主义者成员一边，这令人惊讶。因为这名首席大法官通常是保守主义者，而保守派激烈反对“强制医保”。

Republicans control the House of Representatives. They plan to hold a vote on July eleventh to repeal the law. However, Democrats hold the majority in the Senate and would never agree.

共和党控制了众议院。他们计划在7月11日投票废除该法案。然而，民主党人在参议院占多数，他们绝不会同意这样做。

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney renewed his promise to try to repeal the law.

共和党总统候选人罗姆尼重申自己设法废除该法案的承诺。

MITT ROMNEY: "What the court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States, and that is I will act to repeal Obamacare."

罗姆尼：“法庭在开庭最后一天没有做到的，我会在我当选总统的头一天做到，我会采取行动，废除奥巴马医保法案。”

Mr. Romney approved a similar health care law when he was governor of Massachusetts. But he argues that such decisions should be left to the states.

罗姆尼在担任马萨诸塞州州长时批准了一项类似的医保法案。但他认为，这种决定应该留给各州自行决定。

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

___

Contributing: Jim Malone and Dan Robinson