美国国家公共电台 NPR Despite Health Care Worries, Trump Voters Don't Regret Their Choice

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

For one young mother in Pennsylvania, one thing has been on her mind - health insurance. Since last year's presidential election, we've been checking in with Jamie Ruppert and other Americans from all walks of life. She voted for Democrats¹ in the past. But like many others in her community, she voted for Donald Trump² this time. NPR's Jeff Brady went to Luzerne County, Pa., to meet up with her again.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE³: What really concerns Jamie Ruppert is her mother's health care. So for this visit, we met at her mom's house in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

BRADY: That's her mom's dog who is not a fan of strangers. The dog seems OK with babies, though. Ruppert is holding her 3-month-old daughter. What Ruppert thinks is that health care is expensive. After her daughter, Berlin, was born, even with insurance through her husband's job, there were hundreds of dollars of out-of-pocket medical expenses. During the 2016 election, the Affordable⁴ Care Act is one of the reasons Ruppert switched parties and voted for Trump.

JAMIE RUPPERT: The idea of Obamacare was great. But when I started seeing the premiums⁵ people were getting quoted, no, I wasn't a fan of it.

BRADY: Ruppert is 34 and says she knows young people who refuse to sign up for expensive ACA policies, choosing instead to pay a penalty of at least $700 at tax time. Ruppert figured a businessman like Trump could strike a better deal to help young people.

She liked his repeal⁶-and-replace campaign promise. But the president and the Republican-dominated Congress are struggling to make good on that pledge. Now Trump predicts the ACA marketplaces will fail. That worries Ruppert's mom, Linda McDermott.

LINDA MCDERMOTT: I had breast cancer in 1996. And I got yearly mammograms after that up until 2009.

BRADY: McDermott was on her husband's health plan through work but then lost her coverage⁷ when he turned 65 and qualified⁸ for Medicare. They couldn't afford a private policy for her back then, so she went without. Now she's 62. Her husband has died. And she qualifies for a subsidized ACA plan that costs less than $100 a month.

MCDERMOTT: I enrolled⁹ in the Affordable Care Act in January of 2016. And in March, I had developed a basal cell carcinoma.

BRADY: McDermott says the insurance came just in time to pay for the skin cancer treatment.

MCDERMOTT: So all in all, it's been good for me, you know, I must say.

BRADY: Still, during the 2016 election, McDermott, like her daughter, switched from a history of picking Democrats to voting for Trump. She says his position on restricting immigration was the main reason. She wasn't as focused on health care when she cast her vote.

MCDERMOTT: Trump sang a good song. You know, we're going to repeal and replace. It will be done simultaneously¹⁰. You know, it will be done within the same day, maybe within the same hour. You know, at the stroke of midnight, everything just, you know, changes.

RUPPERT: I don't think he thought it was going to be so hard. You know, it's easy to drop a business plan and follow through on it. But this is not just a simple business plan or budget plan or sales meeting. This is, you know, people's lives.

BRADY: Ruppert and her mom hope some form of affordable health insurance will remain available for just a few more years until McDermott qualifies for Medicare at 65. Despite this uncertainty¹¹ and a string of negative news about Trump and his administration, Ruppert remains¹² a supporter of the president.

RUPPERT: So I don't regret voting for Trump. I regret maybe believing as much and putting as much faith into a politician. And we all know that politicians will say whatever you want to hear to get into office.

BRADY: Trump still has more than three years in office. So Ruppert is waiting before delivering a final judgment¹³ on her candidate's performance. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

1 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》

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

7 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。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 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》

10 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。