Ga. voters will decide the next governor and the state's status with Medicaid

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Ga. voters will decide the next governor and the state's status with Medicaid

Transcript¹

Georgia is one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid. With the governor's office up for grabs, Georgia Democrats³ and Republicans offer competing explanations for why that is.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Twelve states in this country have not expanded Medicaid. Obamacare back in 2010 allowed states to expand that health program with federal help. But many Republican-led states declined. Some have since come around, but others, including Georgia, have not. And it's an issue in Georgia's governor's race. Sam Gringlas of member station WABE in Atlanta reports.

SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE⁴: Expanding Medicaid will be a centerpiece of Democrat² Stacey Abrams' campaign for governor this year. At a campaign kickoff this month, one attendee asked Abrams what separates her health care platform from Republican Governor Brian Kemp's.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STACEY ABRAMS: No one should die from a preventable disease. And the fact that we are refusing to help people, not because we can't, but because he won't, is the real difference.

GRINGLAS: Medicaid helps low-income people get health coverage⁵. In Georgia, low-income children, pregnant people, people with disabilities and some others can access Medicaid. What Medicaid expansion does is it allows any adult making below a certain income threshold to participate. But states have to opt⁶ in. The federal government pays 90% and states pick up the rest. For years, Georgia's governors declined, saying it would be too expensive. That was until 2020.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRIAN KEMP: There's no doubt that this status quo is simply unacceptable. It threatens our families, and it threatens our state's future.

GRINGLAS: That's Kemp acknowledging two years ago that Georgia is one of the least insured states in the country. And he promised to take action. He asked for a waiver from the Trump⁷ administration to allow a more limited expansion. It would cover fewer people. The feds would kick in less money. And most importantly, it included an 80-hour-a-month work requirement. Professor Jamila Michener studies Medicaid expansion at Cornell University. She says waivers give Republican governors like Kemp political cover.

JAMILA MICHENER: So states used waivers as a way of saying, fine, we're going to do this. But we're going to make it into something that fits a political profile that we are much more comfortable with.

GRINGLAS: Kemp's plan never took effect. Last month, the Biden administration denied its final approval, saying reporting work can be a barrier for people and doesn't actually serve the purpose of Medicaid. Politicians scurried⁸ to shape the narrative⁹. Democrats criticized Republicans for not accepting a clean Medicaid expansion from the start. House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, called Biden the Grinch for nixing their health care proposal right before Christmas.

MICHENER: So the Kemp camp is saying, no, no, no. It's Biden. And Stacey Abrams is saying, no, no, no. It's Kemp. And people don't know how to make sense of that if they haven't been following Medicaid politics closely. It really muddies the water.

GRINGLAS: On Friday, Georgia sued the Biden administration over their decision. For now, though, many people are still in limbo¹⁰. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates more than 250,000 Georgians don't currently qualify for Medicaid or for subsidies¹¹ to help buy their own insurance. Amy Bielawski is one of them. She's an entertainer, mostly at parties and events.

AMY BIELAWSKI: Everything from face painting, balloon sculpting¹², belly¹³ dance and hula and fire eating.

GRINGLAS: Bielawski can't afford to buy her own insurance. So for years, she's gone without. She found a clinic that provides decent care. But when Bielawski had a health scare, it was terrifying.

BIELAWSKI: Not only what was happening to my body, but how much money is this going to cost me?

GRINGLAS: What to do for uninsured people like Bielawski is one question Georgia voters will face this year when they decide the state's next governor.

For NPR news, I'm Sam Gringlas in Atlanta.

(SOUNDBITE OF INSTUPENDO'S "FALLING")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 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。

6 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？

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

11 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 sculpting   

雕刻( sculpt的现在分词 )； 雕塑； 做（头发）； 梳（发式）

参考例句：

• The quality of the result is determined by a Craft( sculpting) check. 由手艺（刻）定决定结果质量如何。
• Another difficulty in the process of ice sculpting is time control. 冰雕过程中的另一项困难是时间的掌控。

13 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。