美国国家公共电台 NPR Voters In 4 States Set To Decide On Medicaid Expansion

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Next week, voters in three states consider whether to do something their state governments did not - expand the Medicaid health insurance program, as most states did under Obamacare. Here's NPR's Alison Kodjak.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE¹: It wasn't all that long ago that Grant Burningham was living in the woods.

GRANT BURNINGHAM: That's hard for me to talk about because I thought I had reached the end.

KODJAK: He's a former financial adviser² from Bountiful, Utah. Back in 2001, he had a severe reaction to a medication, and it caused a constellation³ of strange symptoms.

BURNINGHAM: I literally⁴ got what might even be termed the boils of Job. I have scars all over my body now. And they even got up on my face. And you can see them now. Then I got some really strange, severe headaches and fatigue⁵. And that was associated with blood pressure that got remarkably⁶ high.

KODJAK: He had severe digestive problems. His blood sugar fluctuated wildly. The problems became so debilitating⁷ Burningham couldn't work.

BURNINGHAM: I really didn't want to call myself disabled at first. What I really truly wanted was just basically some answers.

KODJAK: He lost his job and his health insurance. Eventually, he lost his home. Now he has a place to live but still can't get the care or even a diagnosis⁸ that might allow him to get back on his feet. But that could all change. Next week, Utah residents will be going to the polls to vote on whether the state will join 33 others and Washington, D.C., and expand Medicaid coverage⁹ to a lot more low-income adults like Burningham. Nebraska and Idaho also have the Medicaid question on ballots¹⁰ in their states. And in Montana, voters will decide whether to continue that state's Medicaid expansion or let it roll back. Voters are acting¹² because politicians aren't following their wishes, says Jonathan Schleifer.

JONATHAN SCHLEIFER: The real gap on health care is not between Democrats¹³ and Republicans. It's between politicians and everyone else. Politicians have made health care a divisive, political issue. But when you ask most Americans whether they want more health care or less, they want more health care.

KODJAK: Schleifer is executive director of The Fairness Project, which worked to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot¹¹ in the four states. Maine voters approved a ballot measure to expand Medicaid in 2017. But Governor Paul LePage has so far refused to implement¹⁴ the expansion. Utah lawmakers have come close to expanding Medicaid at least three times since 2014. But the state's House of Representatives opposed it. Earlier this year, lawmakers agreed to a limited expansion, but that needs approval from the federal government.

Burningham has been there through it all. He testified in the Utah Legislature several times over the years. This time around, he collected signatures from his friends at the Capitol to get the measure onto the ballot.

BURNINGHAM: I also sat very humbly¹⁵ and very quietly and maybe got two or three signatures a week over a six-week period at a food bank up in Ogden, Utah. And that's where I had spent most of my homeless time was in Ogden.

KODJAK: RyLee Curtis, campaign manager for the advocacy group Utah Decides, says Burningham has company.

RYLEE CURTIS: People like social workers or nurses, even doctors going out and collecting signatures because they're tired of having these patients come into their offices and not being able to help them because they're uninsured.

KODJAK: And religious leaders have also been active.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JODI BUSHDIECKER: Good morning. My name is Reverend Jodi Bushdiecker. I serve as pastor¹⁶ of Bountiful Community Church, United Church of Christ.

CURTIS PRICE: My name is Reverend Curtis Price. I'm the pastor at First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City.

VINETTA GOLPHIN-WILKERSON: I am Reverend Vinetta Golphin-Wilkerson. I serve as pastor of Granger Community Christian¹⁷ Church, Disciples¹⁸ of Christ.

KODJAK: In a news conference in early October, 10 religious leaders called for voters to pass the expansion. One was Bishop¹⁹ Oscar Solis of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OSCAR SOLIS: To promote the dignity and sanctity of life, we need to provide basic needs for people, and that includes health care.

KODJAK: The Mormon Church hasn't taken an official position on the ballot question, though some individual leaders have endorsed²⁰ it. But David Barnes of Americans For Prosperity, which is campaigning against the measure, says states like Utah shouldn't risk expanding Medicaid because groups like his are still trying to repeal²¹ the Affordable²² Care Act.

DAVID BARNES: If states go ahead and expand Medicaid - assuming there's a big federal pot of money that's going to be available to them to do this - and then find out after the fact that they've expanded coverage for them but can't pay for it, that's going to be a problem for them. And so we're trying to keep states from making fiscal²³ decisions based on laws that we're separately tried to change.

KODJAK: Barnes says Medicaid expansion is flawed because federal funding is more generous for the expansion population than for the children and disabled people that Medicaid was originally intended to help. In Utah, AFP has about 50 people on the ground working to defeat the measure. And they've called and visited more than 23,000 voters. But polls show that 59 percent of Utah voters favor the expansion, which could bring health insurance to 150,000 Utahns. Grant Burningham is optimistic that he'll be one of them.

BURNINGHAM: I think it's going to pass. I really do.

KODJAK: Alison Kojak, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANAN RYOKO'S "UTAKATA")

1 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。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

6 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

7 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

8 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

9 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。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 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》

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

15 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

16 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

17 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

18 disciples   

n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一

参考例句：

• Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 犹大是耶稣十二门徒之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的两个门徒的名字是——” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

19 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

20 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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。

22 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。

23 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。