礼节美语 Business Etiquette 209: 医疗保险(1)

 　　ANDY向同事Jane咨询公司医疗保险的事。

　　ANDY: Hey, Jane...are you familiar with our company's insurance policies?

　　Jane: Umm....I think so. What's up?

　　A: I've never really paid attention to the fine print of our insurance policies...but it looks like I'm going to need to make a claim.

　　J: Really? Are you OK?

　　A: I have a slipped disc in my lower back and the doctor says surgery is probably the best option. Does our worker insurance cover this kind of thing?

　　ANDY问Jane熟不熟悉公司的医疗保险条款，insurance是保险，policies是条款，医生说他腰椎肩盘突出，可能要做手术，需要向保险公司make a claim，提出医疗赔偿。ANDY说，自己从没仔细研究过公司医疗保险的fine print，fine print小号字，意思是规定细则，不知道做腰椎肩盘手术，保险公司是不是出钱，这里动词用cover, to cover this kind of thing 意思是保险涵盖这类治疗。

　　J: If the injury is workplace related I'm sure it's completely covered.

　　A: Hummm...I think I'll have to talk to the doctor again about that.

　　Anyway...now that I'm going to have to make some claims, I think I'd better try and understand how the system works. Would you mind breaking it down for me?

　　J: Sure. Basically we have two insurance policies for employees...workman's compensation and medical insurance. The company pays the premiums² for workman's compensation, and for a significant part of the medical coverage³, but you pay part of that premium¹, too.

　　Jane说，如果病情起因跟工作有关，那保险肯定是管的，她还给ANDY做了进一步解释，这里用的 break something down意思是把一件事情分成几部分，详细说明。Jane说，公司有两种保险，一种是workman's compensation, 工人抚恤金保险，保费由公司出；另一种是medical coverage医疗保险，公司出一大部分保费，其余由员工出，在医疗保险中，保费是premium, p-r-e-m-i-u-m, premium保费。

　　A: That's the charge for insurance I see on my pay slip each month, right?

　　J: Yep. Every country in the world has a different system, but here we buy insurance from a private provider.

　　A: So workman's compensation is if I slip and break my arm while working in the office or on the job, right?

　　J: That's right. The company pays for all your medical bills and there is also some financial compensation if you have to take days off to see doctors or spend time recuperating⁴.

　　ANDY说，自己每月工资单上都会有一栏扣的就是医疗保险的保费，工资单在英语里叫 pay slip. ANDY又问，workman's compensation是不是只管在工作场所或是工作期间受的伤，Jane回答说，没错，在这种情况下，不仅一切医疗费用都由公司出，而且如果员工需要take days off请假去看医生，或是休养 recuperate⁵, recuperate is spelled r-e-c-u-p-e-r-a-t-e, recuperate, 还能得到某些经济补贴。

1 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

2 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》

3 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。

4 recuperating   

v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's still recuperating from his operation. 他动了手术，还在恢复。
• He is recuperating from a serious back injury. 他背部受了重伤，目前正在康复中。 来自辞典例句

5 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。