VOA标准英语2009年-Senator Reid: US Health Care Reform Bill W

By Cindy Saine
Capitol Hill
26 October 2009

 
Senator Harry¹ Reid, 6 Oct 2009
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday his chamber's health care reform bill will include a government-run insurance plan that states could participate in voluntarily. A government-run alternative to private health insurance has been extremely controversial in the national debate over reforming America's health care system.

Attention has been focused on Senator Harry Reid, a Democrat² from Nevada, as he works behind closed doors to try to meld two different committee versions of health care legislation into one bill for the full Senate to debate.

President Barack Obama says reforming the U.S. health care system is his top domestic priority. But an overwhelming majority of Republicans do not support the plans that congressional Democrats³ have been hammering out. And even some Democrats have been debating whether a reform bill should include a government-run insurance plan, known as a "public option."

Senator Reid told reporters on Monday that the bill he plans to send to the Senate floor will include a government-run plan.

"I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system," said Harry Reid. "It will protect consumers, keep insurers honest and ensure competition."

Liberals within the Democratic Party have been fighting for a public option, saying that it is the only way to spur private insurance companies to keep costs down and offer affordable⁵ plans to consumers. 

Conservative Democrats and most Republicans are skeptical⁶ of a public option, saying it would lead to nationalized health care in the United States.

Reid has had the tricky⁷ task of trying to get all 60 Democrats in the Senate to back a single health care proposal, to prevent Republicans from delaying a vote on the Senate floor by engaging in extended debate and procedural tactics, or filibustering⁸.

Reid said that the legislation he is proposing would allow states not to participate in the public option. He said states would have until 2014 to opt⁴ out of the program, calling it the "fairest way to go."

Reid admitted that by including a public option in the Senate's health care reform bill, he likely would lose the support of Olympia Snowe of Maine - the only Republican senator who might vote for the legislation. 

Reid said he is always looking for Republicans to work with, but added that they are getting harder and harder to find.

"When I came here to the Senate, we had a lot of moderate Republicans who worked with us on everything, and we worked with them," he said. "But, of course, now the moderates are extremely limited. I could count them on two fingers."

There has been more support for a government-run health insurance program in the House of Representatives, which has a larger Democratic majority. Health care reform bills have to be passed in both chambers⁹ and then reconciled into one piece of legislation and approved before it can go to the president for his signature. Mr. Obama has made clear he wants health care reform to be passed this year.

In a statement on Monday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president is pleased that the Senate has decided¹⁰ to include a public option, and that he supports it because it has the potential to hold insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.

Private insurance companies strongly oppose a government-run program, saying it could force them out of the health care coverage¹¹ market. 

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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》

4 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

5 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。

6 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

7 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

8 filibustering   

v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的现在分词 )；掠夺

参考例句：

9 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 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。