美国国家公共电台 NPR ACA Sign-Ups Have Lagged For 2019. But What Does That Mean?

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Tomorrow is the deadline to sign up for health insurance on the federal government's HealthCare.gov marketplace. So far, people are choosing health plans at a slower pace than in previous years. NPR's Alison Kodjak reports that it's hard to determine what to make of these numbers.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE¹: Former President Barack Obama released a video earlier this week urging people to shop for health insurance on the Affordable² Care Act exchange.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Hi, everybody. Well, it is that time of year again.

KODJAK: After Obama's video came out, there was a bump in sign-ups. But overall this year, enrollment⁴ in the individual market is lagging. At the end of last week, about 4.1 million people had chosen a health plan on HealthCare.gov. That's about half a million fewer than at this time last year.

ROSEMARIE DAY: I hate to panic, but I do think we're going to come in low.

KODJAK: That's Rosemarie Day, who is the founding COO of Massachusetts' state exchange which launched in 2006. She blames the lower enrollment on the Trump⁵ administration's decision to cut the advertising⁶ budget for open enrollment. She says ongoing⁷ outreach is crucial to make sure people who need insurance know where and when to get it.

DAY: Really the individual market is very volatile⁸ because people are in and out of needing that kind of coverage⁹. So there's always potential for new customers who may have really never paid that much attention to the exchange because it wasn't something that they needed. It wasn't really on their radar¹⁰ until they did need it.

KODJAK: The Department of Health and Human Services says it did some advertising on local TV and radio and in print media and sent out more than 600 million emails and text messages to potential consumers. It's hard to say whether the slower sign-ups today mean fewer people will have insurance coverage next year. Katherine Baicker, an economist¹¹ and the dean of the University of Chicago's School of Public Policy, says some Trump administration policy changes, like eliminating the penalty for not having coverage, could depress sign-ups. At the same time, though, the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in almost 50 years, which Baicker says usually means more people have insurance through their jobs.

KATHERINE BAICKER: We don't yet know what share of those people would have been getting insurance on the exchange otherwise.

KODJAK: It's also hard to know how many people are just sticking with the plan they have now. Those numbers will be available next year. Another factor in making the numbers hard to read - Virginia is allowing more adults to get coverage through Medicaid, including some who used to get insurance through HealthCare.gov. Virginia's Health Secretary Daniel Carey says so far, about 140,000 Virginians have enrolled¹² in Medicaid as part of the new expansion.

DANIEL CAREY: Given the copays and the deductibles in the exchange plans, you know, Medicaid for the individual is - you know, is a much better deal. So if they do qualify, we certainly encourage them to enroll³ in Medicaid.

KODJAK: The bottom line is how many people end up with coverage, says Chicago's Baicker.

BAICKER: If fewer people are signing up in the individual market because more people are getting insurance through their jobs, that may be a very good news story for those people. If fewer people are signing up through the exchanges because they're going to end up uninsured, that's a very bad news story for those people.

KODJAK: Consumers have until midnight tomorrow to pick an insurance plan on HealthCare.gov. Alison Kodjak, NPR News.

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 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。

3 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

4 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。

5 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。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

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 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 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》