时代周刊 亚马逊进军医疗保健行业(2)

“The ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy" is how Buffett put it in the six-paragraph news release

“医疗保健膨胀的成本就像一条饥饿的绦虫蚕食着美国的经济。”巴菲特在一条长达六段的新闻里如是说到，

that offered no blueprint¹ but what Amazon founder² Jeff Bezos called “talented experts, a beginner’s mind and a long-term orientation³.”

尽管该报道并没有透露任何计划，亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝佐斯还是评价到，“我们有本领高强的专家，有不变的初心，也有长期定位”。

You can see where this is going.

我们可以看出这件事情的走向。

Shop for a piece of furniture online and the seller explains why it can offer a quality sofa at a reasonable price by listing the half-dozen middlemen it’s cutting out:

网购家具时卖家会给你解释他们如何通过剔除六家中间商来提供物美价廉的沙发的。对这些中间商他们是如数家珍：

retail⁴ warehouse⁵, retail store, wholesaler⁶ warehouse, wholesaler showroom, export agent.

零售仓库，零售店，批发仓库，批发展厅，出口代理商。

It may not be possible to list the intermediaries milling about between a patient and a healer,

尽管我们可能无法列出盘桓在患者和医生之间的所有中间商，

but David Cutler, a health economist⁷ at Harvard, made the striking calculation that administration accounts for about a quarter of the cost of health care in the U.S.—

但哈佛大学的卫生经济学家大卫·卡特勒（David Cutler）还是得出了一个令人惊讶的计算结果：政府的医疗开销在美国医疗保健费用中占了将近四分之一——

perhaps double the rate in the next-most-benighted system.

这一比例可以说是在腐败程度上仅次于医疗的行业的两倍。

He once pointed⁸ out that Duke University Hospital had 900 beds and 1,300 billing clerks.

他曾经指出，杜克大学医院有900个床位，1,300个帐单文员。

None of this qualifies as news.

这些问题都已不新鲜。

What does is the prospect⁹ of a new sensibility addressing the mess.

真正值得让人注意的是试图解决这一混乱的新办法到底有多大前景？

Bezos became the richest man in the world in no small part by exploiting and inventing technology, like “one click.”

贝佐斯能成为世界上最富有的人，在很大程度上都因归功于“一键下单”（即亚马逊）之类产品的开发和技术发明。

His approach is to undercut the competition at every turn—

他的办法是抓住一切机会削弱对手的竞争力，

cutting prices so low that customers were reliably pleased, and vendors¹⁰ had no choice but to stock his shelves.

大幅降价让客户切实感到高兴，同时让供应商除了给他供货别无选择。

Many of the company’s half-million employees work among those shelves at the “fulfillment centers” all across the U.S. where boxes are packed and shipped.

该公司五十万员工,其中有很多人都在这些岗位上工作，在美国各地的“装货中心”进行包装和运输。

A warehouse worker might make $15 an hour, better than retail but not enough to make anyone rich,

仓库员工每小时可能挣15美元，虽然比零售商好点，但也谈不上富有，

especially after taxes and health-insurance premiums¹¹, which have been rising faster than wages.

特别是扣了税和医疗保险费以后，而这两项的费用上涨的速度比工资要快。

If the triad of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase can find a way to bring sense to health care,

如果亚马逊，伯克希尔·哈撒韦和摩根大通的三位一体有办法让医疗保健变得合理，

the savings¹² will accrue¹³ first for those three companies, which are not acting¹⁴ out of altruism¹⁵.

收益首先惠及的是这三家公司，这就不再是利他主义了。

But sometimes business interests align¹⁶ with human ones.

然而，也有商业利益与人的利益相吻合的情况。

Every dollar matters to an hourly worker,

对小时工来说，每一美元都很重要，

and when the savings from a better health care system reach the worker and when the worker reaches a doctor without having to run a gauntlet

当医疗保健系统的存款能够惠及他们，当他们不必再为就医遭受指责，

the vaunted, disruptive efficiency of tech will have produced a common good.

效率破坏力十足还被大肆吹嘘的技术就算是造福万民了。

1 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

6 wholesaler   

n.批发商

参考例句：

• We're the largest furniture wholesaler in Illinois. 我们是伊利诺伊州最大的家具批发商。 来自辞典例句
• These are used to create profiles for each wholesaler. 这是他日常的工作或通过与批发商的正式会谈。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 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》

12 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。

13 accrue   

v.(利息等)增大，增多

参考例句：

• Ability to think will accrue to you from good habits of study.思考能力将因良好的学习习惯而自然增强。
• Money deposited in banks will accrue to us with interest.钱存在银行，利息自生。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

16 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。