VOA常速英语2013--聚焦华盛顿:重新关注“奥巴马医改”（在线收听）

Washington Week: Renewed Focus on 'Obamacare' 聚焦华盛顿:重新关注“奥巴马医改”

The coming week will see renewed focus on President Barack Obama’s signature health care law amid a reported end-of-year surge in people who have signed up for  coverage. The news constitutes the most concrete sign to date that technical problems plaguing the Affordable Care Act have subsided, although the long-term success of  the program remains in question.

President Obama is on vacation in Hawaii,

虽然奥巴马总统正在夏威夷度假,

but the administration says more than one million people have now enrolled for private insurance through federal health care exchanges established under the law, also  known as "Obamacare.

但是政府表示现在已经有超过一百万人通过依法成立的联邦卫生保健交易所, 也就是众所熟知的奥巴马医改网站注册私人保险。

Almost all of the new enrollees have signed up in December.

几乎所有的新人已经在12月注册。

Millions visited the federal website last week ahead of a deadline for health care coverage beginning January 1.

数百万人上周在医疗保险1月1日的最后期限前访问该联邦网站。

The enrollment surge offers the first glimmer of hope that the technical glitches that paralyzed the Affordable Care Act's rollout are a thing of the past.

网站注册人数的飙升为过去一经推出即遭技术故障瘫痪的可支付医疗法案带去了一线希望。

Until now, President Barack Obama has been on the defensive about the law's implementation.

直到现在,美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马对该法律的实施一直采取守势。

“The fact is, it did not happen in the first month, the first six weeks, in a way that was acceptable.

“事实是,在第一个月,前六个星期内并没有发生,在某种程度上这是可以接受的。

And since I am in charge, obviously, we screwed it up,” Obama remarked.

而自从我负责以来,显然我们把它搞砸了,”奥巴马说道。

Republicans continue to call for Obamacare's repeal, contending that more Americans have had their existing health insurance policies cancelled than have benefitted  from the law.

共和党人继续呼吁废除奥巴马医改法案,声称相比来自法律，更多美国人的现有医疗保险政策的受益被取消。

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer predicts the criticism will fade over time.

而在接受美国全国广播公司《会见新闻界》采访时,民主党参议员查尔斯·舒默预测批评会随着时间消退。

“The bottom line is, there are a lot of good things in Obamacare that people like, and the more people see that, the more positive it is going to be.”

“底线是人们喜欢奥巴马医改中的很多美好事物,而且更多的人看到它会朝更好的方向发展。”

A million enrollees is far short of the seven million goal the Obama administration set for the initial phase of the Affordable Care Act.

一百万的注册人数远远低于奥巴马政府预测的可支付医疗法案目标设定的初始阶段的七百万人。

And it remains to be seen whether large numbers of younger, healthier Americans will sign up for coverage.

大量的年轻、健康的美国人是否注册还未可知。

Without them, the economics of Obamacare will collapse.

如果没有他们,奥巴马医改的经济将会瘫痪崩溃。