美国国家公共电台 NPR CHART: Who Wins, Who Loses With Senate Health Care Bill

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Republicans in the Senate today released their plan to repeal¹ and replace the Affordable² Care Act also known as Obamacare. This long-awaited proposal marks a big step toward achieving one of the Republican Party's major goals - reversing a key part of President Obama's legacy³. NPR's Alison Kodjak begins our coverage⁴.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁵: The Senate proposal is broadly similar to the bill passed by House Republicans last month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the plan, which he calls a discussion draft, will stabilize⁶ insurance markets and cut costs to consumers.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MITCH MCCONNELL: We agreed on the need to free Americans from Obamacare's mandates⁸, and policies contained in the discussion draft will repeal the individual mandate⁷ so Americans are no longer forced to buy insurance they don't need or can't afford.

KODJAK: The plan gets rid of those mandates and instead entices⁹ people to voluntarily buy a policy by offering them tax credits based on age and income to help pay premiums¹⁰. Avik Roy is a physician and founder¹¹ of the conservative Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. He says this bill is better designed than the House version because it offers more help to older people who can't afford insurance while making coverage cheaper for young, healthy people.

AVIK ROY: The bill will encourage a lot more of those individuals to buy health insurance. That in turn will make the risk pool much healthier, which will also lower premiums. And the tax credits in the bill will also be better designed.

KODJAK: But Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health says the bill bases its tax credits on lower-quality insurance.

CAROLINE PEARSON: If you're paying, you know, a similar percentage of income, you're getting a less-generous product under this new plan.

KODJAK: The plan keeps some popular parts of Obamacare. It allows parents to keep their kids on their policies until they turn 26, and it requires insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions. But it then allows states to ask for waivers to opt¹² out of that requirement.

PEARSON: The protections around preexisting conditions are still in place in the Senate bill, but the waiver authority gives states options that could include limiting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

KODJAK: Those waivers can allow states to drop some benefits required by Obamacare like maternity¹³ coverage, mental health care and birth control. The bill eliminates most of the taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act, and it bars people from using tax credits to buy policies that pay for abortion¹⁴ and blocks Planned Parenthood from getting any money from Medicaid.

In fact, the Senate plan follows the House lead in completely changing how the government pays for health care for the poor and disabled. Today Medicaid pays for all the care people need, and the state and federal governments share the cost. But Medicaid has also been eating up an ever-larger share of federal spending, so the Republican plan puts a lid on that by rolling back the Obama-era expansion of the program and then granting states a set amount of money for each person enrolled¹⁵. Caroline Pearson...

PEARSON: The Medicaid cuts are even more draconian¹⁶ than the House bill was, though they take effect more gradually than the House bill did. So we're going to see very significant reductions in coverage in Medicaid and big cuts in federal funding that will result in significant budget gaps for states.

KODJAK: Several Republican senators have already said they oppose the bill, so it's unclear whether any of these proposals will become law. Alison Kodjak, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

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 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 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。

5 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。

6 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

9 entices   

诱惑，怂恿( entice的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The smell of food entices the hungry children into the hut. 食物的味道把饥饿的孩子们诱进小屋中。
• With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him. 箴7:21淫妇用许多巧言诱他随从、谄媚的嘴逼他同行。

10 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》

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 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？

13 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

15 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》

16 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。