美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florida is 1 of 11 states declining to accept federal money to expand Medicaid

Florida is 1 of 11 states declining to accept federal money to expand Medicaid

Transcript¹

With the end of the COVID public health emergency, 1.7 million people in Florida will soon lose their Medicaid health coverage². Despite that, officials have no plans to expand Medicaid in Florida.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Millions of people will start seeing notices next month that their health care coverage is going away. The Biden administration's decision to end the COVID public health emergency also ends a temporary expansion of the Medicaid program. In Florida, state officials expect more than 1.5 million people to lose coverage. As NPR's Greg Allen reports, Florida is one of 11 states that declined to accept the federal government's regular Medicaid coverage.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE³: When the COVID pandemic took hold in early 2020, Kristen Garner⁴, like many Americans, found herself suddenly without a job. She had been working as a server at a restaurant on the beach in Pensacola. She applied⁵ for unemployment and food stamps and found that with no income, she now qualified⁶ for health insurance under Medicaid.

KRISTEN GARNER: It was awesome⁷. I was able to go get my teeth cleaned. I was able to get X-rays done. It was great. It was a big help.

ALLEN: Garner is a single mom with a 10-year-old son. Florida has some of the nation's toughest restrictions⁸ on who's eligible⁹ for Medicaid. Because of that, it's second only to Texas in the large number of people who are uninsured. At the start of the pandemic, Congress passed a bill signed into law by President Biden that prevented anyone from being disenrolled from Medicaid. That means once you qualified, you kept your coverage, even after you went back to work. Now, with the public health emergency expiring, states can begin kicking people off Medicaid. In Florida, the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis says the first group of notifications to some 900,000 people will start going out in April.

Holly¹⁰ Bullard is with the Florida Policy Institute.

HOLLY BULLARD: We know a large portion of those 900,000 cases - that a lot of those folks will be falling back into the coverage gap.

ALLEN: Kristen Garner may be one of those people. She's back doing her job as a restaurant server, but she makes too much to qualify for Medicaid. And it may be too little to be eligible for coverage through the Affordable¹¹ Care Act. She worries she may lose something most people take for granted.

GARNER: Just being able to pay to go see a doctor, being able to pay for medications.

ALLEN: Officials in Florida say they're working to make sure people know their Medicaid coverage is ending, helping¹² them find other options if they're available. But Alison Yager with the Florida Health Justice Project says it's a massive undertaking¹³.

ALISON YAGER: This is going to be the biggest bureaucratic¹⁴ challenge that states around the country have faced for their Medicaid programs in decades.

ALLEN: Officials call it Medicaid unwinding. Eventually, they say close to 2 million people may be disenrolled in Florida, leaving many of them without a health plan. With hundreds of thousands of people soon losing coverage, health care advocates and Democrats¹⁵ in Florida have renewed a push for the state to expand eligibility¹⁶ for Medicaid. Republicans who control the legislature have consistently blocked Medicaid expansion and have made no moves to change course in the current session. In many of the 39 states that have adopted it, Yager says Medicaid expansion has been bipartisan, and it's yielded good results.

YAGER: Every state - red states, blue states, purple states - that have expanded Medicaid have found it to be a good deal for the state's coffers and, more importantly, a good deal for the state's residents.

ALLEN: In North Carolina, after years of resisting it, the Republican-led Legislature now is poised¹⁷ to pass a Medicaid expansion bill. In South Dakota, overcoming resistance from the Republican governor and lawmakers, voters in November expanded Medicaid coverage through a referendum. That may be a model for Florida. Several health care advocacy groups are working together to put a similar initiative on the ballot¹⁸ in Florida in 2026.

Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALBORAN TRIO'S "DUENDE")

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 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。

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 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 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。

7 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

11 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。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

14 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

15 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》

16 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

17 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

18 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。