万花筒 2009-10-13&10-14 体重超标，医保费也高

Overweight is definitely, definitely a problem issue for a lot of people, me being one of them.

Those extra pounds add up to health care cost. State officials say that the leading causes of preventable death are tobacco use, lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet. There has been a shift upward in terms of the percentage of members who have signs of disease. Starting in July of next year, the state will put those tar-heeler employees who smoke on a PPO basic 70-30 plan. In July of 2011, those who have a body mass index of 40 or more will be put on the same limited coverage¹ too.

I understand that no one likes to be singled out; however, that is willfully choosing ill health.

Most people agree with the penalties for smokers². A lot of companies have already started instituting similar policies. It's the plan for obese-state employees that has everyone talking.

I honestly think that is completely ridiculous, that, um, to charge somebody more for their weight, I don't see what that's even constitutional, to be honest.
You need to take many different things into consideration for that it could be, um, just an illness.

The States have preventable diseases, like diabetes³ and heart disease, increase health care cost astronomically⁴.

These conditions that we are both seeing on now, um, are too, um, that have some the greatest impact on cost of health care.

The State believes giving folks an incentive⁵ to stop smoking and lose weight will not only save their lives, but also the tax-payer money.

 

In Ashville, Charu Kumarhia, News 13.

 

1 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。

2 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

5 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。