美国国家公共电台 NPR Veterans Helped By Obamacare Worry About Republican Repeal Efforts

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As Republican senators take some extra days to consider a health care bill, they may consider this. The measure, which has been delayed because of a lack of votes, takes money out of Medicaid, often described as the health program for the poor. It's become the health program for many of the working poor as well. And turns out, it's also the health program for many veterans. Stephanie O'Neill reports.

STEPHANIE O'NEILL, BYLINE¹: Air Force veteran Billy Ramos of Southern California gets his medical coverage² for himself and for his family from Medicaid, the government insurance program for low-income people. It's coverage he counts on, especially because of his work as a self-employed heating and air conditioning contractor³.

BILLY RAMOS: If I were to get hurt on the job or something, I'd have to go run to the doctor's. And if I don't have any coverage, they're going to charge me an arm and a leg. And, you know, I have to work five times as hard just to make the payment on one bill.

O'NEILL: Medicaid coverage has become especially important to Ramos, as a routine checkup in blood tests this year showed that he's infected with hepatitis C. In California, Medicaid covers his costly⁴ treatment.

RAMOS: Right now, I'm just grateful that I do have it. If they take it away, I don't know what I'm going to end up doing.

O'NEILL: The Senate health plan, which proposes deep cuts in federal spending on Medicaid, has some veterans and advocates worried. Will Fischer, a Marine⁵ who served in Iraq, is with votevets.org, a political action group that opposes the Republican health plan.

WILL FISCHER: If it were to be passed into law, Medicaid would be gutted⁶. And as a result, hundreds of thousands of veterans would lose health insurance.

O'NEILL: It's too early to know just how many veterans would lose coverage as a result of the Medicaid reductions. First, states would have to make some tough decisions, whether to make up the lost federal funding or to limit benefits or to restrict who would get coverage. But Dan Caldwell thinks the concerns are overblown. He's a Marine who served in Iraq and is now policy director for the group Concerned Veterans for America.

DAN CALDWELL: The people who are saying that this is going to harm millions of veterans are not being entirely⁷ truthful⁸ because they're leaving out the fact that many of these veterans qualify for VA health care or, in some cases, already are using VA health care.

ANDREA CALLOW: About a half million veterans today are enrolled⁹ in both programs, says Andrea Callow with the nonprofit group Families USA. Callow is an author of a recent report that shows 1 in 10 U.S. veterans is enrolled in Medicaid.

CALLOW: Oftentimes, veterans will use their Medicaid coverage to get primary care. If, for example, they live in an area that doesn't have a VA facility, they can use their Medicaid coverage to see a doctor in their area.

O'NEILL: Whether a particular veteran qualifies for coverage through the VA depends on a host of variables that Callow says leaves many with only Medicaid as an option. But Caldwell says, rather than fighting to preserve Medicaid access, veterans would be better served by efforts to reform the care the VA provides to those who qualify.

CALDWELL: We believe that giving veterans more health care choice and restructuring the VA so they can act more like a private health care system will ultimately lead to veterans who use the VA receiving better health care.

O'NEILL: The Urban Institute found that the first two years of the Affordable¹⁰ Care Act saw a nearly 40 percent drop in the number of uninsured veterans under the age of 65. That was due in large part to Medicaid expansion under the law. For NPR News, I'm Stephanie O'Neill.

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INSKEEP: And this story is part of a reporting partnership¹¹ with NPR News and Kaiser Health News.

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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 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 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

9 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》

10 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。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。