VOA标准英语2009年-San Francisco Tries New Health Program for

By Rachel Silverman
San Francisco, CA
27 October 2009

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 46 million people in the United States had no health insurance coverage¹ last year. While the nation struggles with reforming health care, one city has begun a program of its own that aims to make health care services accessible and affordable² for its uninsured residents.

Until recently, this diverse city with a population of nearly 800,000 had more than 60,000 adult residents with no health insurance.

Over the last two years, three-quarters of them have enrolled³ in a public program called Healthy San Francisco.

The plan uses mostly existing clinics and non-profit hospitals to supply and coordinate⁴ care, but only within the city limits.

 
Mayor Gavin Newsom
Healthy San Francisco was proposed in 2006 by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"We're a public plan. We're that public option and I don't think you noticed anything but the American flag on City Hall when you came here," he said. "We didn't replace it with the Canadian flag; the sky didn't fall in, and the world didn't come to an end."

The San Francisco program is not an insurance plan. Patients pick a "medical home" -- one of 30 public or private health centers in the city -- where they go for low or no-cost health care.
 
Phil Woo was a printing press operator 1,500 kilometers away in Colorado. When he left his job to take care of his aging mother, he lost his insurance.
 
 
Dr. Albert Yu
Woo has high cholesterol⁵ and hypertension. He came to the Chinatown Public Health Center, and its director, Dr. Albert Yu, steered⁶ him into Healthy San Francisco.
 
"We coordinate care with the specialist. We coordinate care with the emergency room," Dr. Yu explained.

"We got rid of the middleman," Mayor Newsom noted⁷ "We got rid of the payer, in this case the insurance companies and the overhead, and we became the single payer, the public option, the public plan."
 
Each patient in Healthy San Francisco costs the city about $300 per month. Depending on their income, enrollees pay nothing, or from $20 to $200 a month, plus co-payments for some services. But that doesn't pay for it all.
 
San Francisco businesses sued the city over a requirement that they spend more than a dollar an hour per employee for health care. The money can be used to reimburse⁸ employees for health care costs, to buy them health insurance, or it can go to Healthy San Francisco. Some restaurants have put a surcharge on the menu to pay for the added costs.

 
Laurie Thomas
Laurie Thomas owns the Rose Pistola Restaurant she says, "The concern of a lot of restaurants, me included, is you know you've got to keep the doors open."

California law requires cities and counties to treat sick people, even without payment. San Francisco officials say their new health program provides a better system to take care of the uninsured, and 600 to 700 new patients are signing up every week.

1 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。

2 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。

3 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

5 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

6 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。