2007年VOA标准英语-Many Immigrants New to U.S. Rarely Get Preventi

By Carol Pearson
Washington
14 March 2007
 
watch Pearson report

U.S. immigration reform and illegal immigration came up again and again during President Bush's tour of South and Central America. Some 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, many from Latin America. A large number of immigrants, including legal immigrants, have little or no access to health care, except in emergencies. VOA's Carol Pearson takes a look at what kind of medical care is available for these immigrants.

For some 46 million Americans, health insurance is out of reach: it is too expensive. Non-Americans living in the U.S., both legal and illegal, face the same problem.

Dr. Dubard speaking with a patient

Dr. Annette Dubard treats patients at a community health clinic. She is also a researcher at the University of North Carolina. She and a colleague looked at how North Carolina provides medical care under a government-sponsored program for the needy¹ called Medicaid.

Dr. Dubard found, with respect to health care, some recent immigrants are in the same situation as many American citizens.

"These are working families. They are often working in jobs where their employers are not providing health insurance benefits, and they aren't earning wages sufficient to purchase their own coverage," she says.

Dr. Dubard tallied² emergency Medicaid spending in the southern U.S. state of North Carolina for four years to see who was getting emergency aid. Her findings: less money goes to emergency health care for immigrants than most Americans think.

Recent legal and undocumented immigrants accounted for only a small portion of the total Medicaid budget. And of those immigrants, certain groups stood out.

"Nine out of ten [people] were pregnant women receiving care for labor³ and delivery or for emergency complications of their pregnancies," says the doctor.

Many women in the study had no access to prenatal care and nowhere else to go but a hospital emergency room. Dr. Dubard also found emergency care spending for elderly and disabled immigrants increased during the study. "We are spending at the wrong end of care. We could stretch the health care dollar further by emphasizing preventive care."

Dr. Dubard says the study shows that as the government makes plans to reform American health care it should consider the health care needs of immigrants. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Video courtesy of Journal of the American Medical Association

1 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

2 tallied   

v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• The girl tallied them with her eyes for a moment. 新娘用目光把这些化妆品清点了一下。 来自教父部分
• His account of the accident tallied with hers. 他对事故的陈述和她的相吻合。 来自辞典例句

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。