纽约时报民主党人警告称医改法案将引发"5级火警"(3)（打印版）

The ruling is just the latest chapter in the tumultuous history of a law

自2010年5月总统奥巴马在没有任何共和党人投票的情况下签署该法案以来，

that has transformed life for millions of Americans since the measure was passed

该法案已经改变了数百万美国人的生活面貌，

without any Republican votes and signed in May 2010 by President Barack Obama.

而德州的裁决不过是这一法案动荡的历史上翻开的最新篇章。

The decision puts Republicans in Congress into a political box.

这一决定也让国会中的共和党人陷入了政治困境。

Most of them tried over and over to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

因为他们中的大多数人都曾反复尝试废除《平价医疗法案》。

And many of them survived the Democratic wave in midterm elections last month

还有许多人是靠着承诺继续维持法律给予那些投保前就已患病的人群的，

only by vowing to preserve the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, protections that would be swept aside by Judge O’Connor.

却被法官奥康纳弃置一旁的保护，才从上个月中期选举的民主浪潮中幸存了下来。

"Republicans in office would mostly prefer to run away from this issue or hope it disappears before they have to deal with it legislatively,"

“在位的共和党人更倾向于逃避这个问题，或者指望在他们必须通过立法解决这个问题之前问题就先消失了。”

said Thomas Miller, a lawyer and health economist at the American Enterprise Institute and a critic of the law.

法律评论员，美国企业研究所的律师兼健康经济学家托马斯·米勒说到。

After struggling for eight years to come up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act,

在为制定《平价医疗法案》的替代方案而苦苦挣扎了8年之后，

some Republicans in Congress seemed to hope that the judge’s decision would be a catalyst for cooperation,

国会的一些共和党人似乎希望奥康纳法官的判决能成为国会两党合作的催化剂，

which has been virtually nonexistent to date.

但从目前来看，这一效果实际上是不存在的。

Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon and the departing chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee,

格雷格·沃尔登是来自俄勒冈州的共和党众议员，也是即将离任的能源和商业委员会主席，

said the decision offered "a rare opportunity for truly bipartisan health care reform that protects those with pre-existing conditions."

他说，这项决定“两党真正就保护投保前已患疾病的患者的医疗改革达成一致提供了宝贵的契机。”

In the Senate, two Republicans who have cooperated on health legislation — Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana —

在参议院，两位曾就医疗立法有过合作的共和党人——缅因州的苏珊·柯林斯和路易斯安那州的比尔·卡西迪——

said in separate interviews that the ruling showed the need for a bill like one they introduced last year.

分别在各自的采访中表示，这项裁决表明有必要出台一项像他们去年提议的法案那样的法案。

The bill would keep consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act,

该法案将致使消费者不再受《平价医疗法案》的保护，

but give states much more discretion over the use of federal funds for health care.

但会让各州在使用联邦医疗基金方面拥有比以前大得多的自主权。

"Obamacare is failing," Mr. Cassidy, a medical doctor, said. "People are going without insurance because they can’t afford it.

“奥巴马医改正在失败，”卡西迪医生说到。“大家都在脱保，因为他们已经交不起保费了。

Democrats may be doing the political calculus, saying, 'This is great for us because we want to use the issue in 2020.'

民主党人此刻可能正在进行政治盘算，觉得，‘这对我们来说可是件大好事，我们正指望着2020年大选的时候借此发挥一笔呢。’

But I don’t care about the politics.

但我不关心政治。

I’m concerned about that family of four in Louisiana who don’t get a subsidy, who are paying $40,000 a year for a policy with a $13,000 deductible."

我只关心路易斯安那州某个没有补贴，每年要交4万美元却只能报销1.3万美元保险费的四口之家。”