VOA标准英语2014--Obamacare Costs Still Too High for Many Americans 对许多美国人来讲奥巴马医改仍然花费太高

 

Obamacare Costs Still Too High for Many Americans 对许多美国人来讲奥巴马医改仍然花费太高

FREDERICK, MARYLAND — Now that more than seven million Americans have signed up for health insurance under the Affordable¹ Care Act, known as Obamacare, the number of uninsured in the United States has dropped. But there are still millions of low income people who don’t qualify for help, or can’t afford even the subsided² health care coverage³ offered - or are just overwhelmed by this new complex system.

There has been no drop off of patients who come to the Mission of Mercy mobile clinic when it comes to the city of Frederick, Maryland, near Washington, DC.  Mission of Mercy is a volunteer medical service provider funded by private donations.  The group travels throughout the region and treats anyone in need.

Dr. Michael Sullivan says they serve the poor that Obamacare is not reaching.  

“For areas that do not have entities⁴, some organizations that are doing what we’re doing, trying to pick up all of these people that are falling through numerous cracks. I don’t know what they do other than end up in an emergency room for, you know, a quick fix," said Sullivan.

The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make health care coverage less expensive and more accesible. For the poor, it provides either free government coverage under a program called Medicaid or income-based subsides⁵ to purchase private health insurance.  

But for many of the patients that Mission of Mercy sees, insurance through the Affordable Care Act is just not affordable.  Stevatte Bryant lost her job and insurance, but since her husband receives government disability benefits she does not qualify for Medicaid. The cheapest insurance she could get would cost $300 a month, which she cannot afford.

“I’ve had insurance all my life. I’ve worked good jobs. I’ve just had some not so good luck here recently.  And you know I have to humble⁶ myself to come here, and it’s because I don’t have money," said Bryant.

Dr. Sullivan says even with insurance, a hospital emergency room visit to treat Bryant’s back pain would likely cost close to $1,000.

“They get an X-ray that they probably don’t need. And they probably get told we don’t inject things in the ER. Go see this orthopedic doctor. But then when they go to try to see the orthopedic doctor, they can’t get in unless they pay some cash up front," he said.

Other patients here are undocumented immigrants who don’t qualify for any government help. Bianca Aleman from El Salvador is a legal resident but she missed the sign-up deadline for Obamacare because she says the process seemed too intimidating⁷.

“Because I didn’t have too much information. So that’s why I didn’t apply. But now I came here. They give me more information about [it]. So I’m going to try to apply for [it] next year," said Aleman.

 

Mission of Mercy officials say they are expanding services to treat the millions of people who still cannot afford the high cost of health care in America.

1 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。

2 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 subsides   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的第三人称单数 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• Emotion swells and subsides. 情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His emotion swells and subsides. 他的情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

7 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。