美国国家公共电台 NPR Rates Up 22 Percent For Obamacare Plans, But Subsidies Rise, Too

Rates Up 22 Percent For Obamacare Plans, But Subsidies¹ Rise, Too

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Rates for health insurance purchased through an Obamacare exchange are going up next year. The Department of Health and Human Services said today that the average rate would rise 22 percent on healthcare.gov and state-based insurance marketplaces. But the administration took pains to stress that the tax credits most people receive will rise, too, and offset³ the premium⁴ increases. For more on this, we're joined by NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak. Alison, hi.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Robert.

SIEGEL: What information exactly did the Obama administration put out today?

KODJAK: Well, open enrollment⁶ for the Affordable⁷ Care Act insurance starts next week on November 1. So what they opened today was what's called window shopping. People can go online and compare health plans, see the benefits and also see the costs. They can compare prices. So all the details of what plans are offered in different states is out there for people to look at today.

SIEGEL: And the prices are going up. Is this bad news for the Affordable Care Act and the people who use it?

KODJAK: Well, it's certainly not good news for anybody. But how bad it is will depend on where you live and how much money you make. The increases are very varied⁸ from state to state. Some are seeing really huge increases. Like in Arizona, the benchmark rate is more than doubling. That's the rate for what they call a silver plan. But in some other states like in Ohio, it's only increasing by about 2 percent.

If you qualify for subsidies, which means you're lower income, those subsidies will also go up. So you might not see a huge increase in what you have to pay. If you're a higher income and are buying through this insurance, you're going to see the full rate increase.

SIEGEL: There have been a number of stories over the past several months about companies quitting Obamacare. Is that showing up now that people can start comparing plans?

KODJAK: Yeah, it is showing up quite a bit. There are three major insurers - United Health Care, Aetna and Humana - who pulled back from offering insurance pretty dramatically last year, and that left some places where people have really very few choices in insurance.

At least five states, including, like, Alabama, Oklahoma, have only one company offering insurance throughout this whole state, and there are a lot of other individual counties that only have one insurance company. Sometimes they're offering multiple plans so people can choose between two Aetna plans or two Blue Cross plans, but there's not as much competition out there as I think the administration would like to be seeing.

SIEGEL: Opponents of the Affordable Care Act have attacked the program in part for rising premiums⁹. It's obviously a very divisive political issue. What do the presidential candidates say they'll do about it?

KODJAK: Well, you know, it's coming down pretty much on party lines like it has over the many years that Obamacare has been around. Donald Trump¹⁰, like most Republicans, has said he's going to fully¹¹ repeal¹² the Affordable Care Act. At this point it's been in place for several years, and a lot of people have insurance through it. So if he does that, 20 million people who have insurance now will have to find something else. That includes people on Medicaid. He hasn't really put out a detailed¹³ plan on what he would do to replace it. He's mentioned health savings¹⁴ accounts, which is a way for people to save money, tax-free, to pay for health care costs.

Hillary Clinton - completely opposite. She wants to take what's there and build on Obamacare, make it more robust¹⁵ and strong. She talks about increasing the subsidies. She talks about taking actions to rein¹⁶ in costs. She's also proposing allowing people to buy into Medicare earlier than they can now. Now it's 65. They - she wants a lot of people starting at age 55 to do so. And she's also brought up what was very controversial - the public option, which is allowing the government to offer health care in places where there isn't a lot of competition.

SIEGEL: NPR's Alison Kodjak, thanks.

1 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

4 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。

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 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

7 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。

8 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

9 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》

10 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。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 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。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

16 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。