VOA标准英语2009年-Stage Set for Historic US Health Care Deba

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
05 November 2009

 
US Capitol, Washington DC
The stage is set for a historic debate in the U.S. Congress on legislation crafted by majority Democrats² to reform the U.S. health care system.  The debate expected in a special Saturday session in the House of Representatives comes amid growing concerns that the U.S. Senate will be unable to bring a measure to a vote before the end of the year.

With the end of his first year in office less than three months away, President Obama hopes both chambers³ of Congress can pass legislation, work out any remaining differences, and get a final bill to his desk before the year is out.

He could then move into 2010 - which is a congressional mid-term election year - able to point to what could be the biggest victory he may achieve, whether he spends four years or eight years in office.

After the required 72 hours for minority Republicans to review it, Democrats will bring to the floor a massive nearly 2,000 page bill aiming to provide health insurance to about 96 percent of Americans eligible⁴ for it.

In addition to a government-managed insurance option, the measure would create exchanges providing Americans with insurance choices, and prohibit insurance companies from refusing coverage⁵ to people with pre-existing medical problems.

It would be paid for by increasing taxes on higher income Americans, and reducing payments that health insurance companies, hospitals and other providers currently receive through the government-run Medicare program.

Republicans assail⁶ the measure as a government takeover of the health care system, taking aim at its huge size and what they assert will be long-term additions to the federal deficit⁷.

Steve Scalise is a Republican from Louisiana:

"This 1,990 page bill that has just been filed a few days ago by the [Democratic House] Speaker adds up to over $1 trillion of new spending and if you break this spending down, how much is this going to cost - $530 million per page," said Steve Scalise.

The legislation has not pleased all Democrats, particularly moderates and conservatives whose votes will be crucial, and progressives who urged even stronger steps toward true universal government-run health care.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to move to a vote is an indication she is confident that not too many Democrats will vote against their party and that she will achieve the required 218 votes needed for approval.

On the House floor on Wednesday, New York Democrat¹ Eliot Engel, who had pushed for a stronger bill, responded to Republican criticisms.

"We're going to make it so that we have affordable⁸ health care for all for the American people," said Eliot Engel. "The American people should reject the lies and scares and unfair tactics. We're going to have health care for all and it is going to be good for the American people."

Often drowned out in the debate is the fact that while Americans would be required to purchase some form of health insurance, little would change for a majority of those already covered through employer plans.

Republicans continue to assert that the Democratic bill would lead to health care rationing⁹, threaten older Americans with loss of care, and result in millions of lost jobs.

On the House floor, Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican pointed¹⁰ to a Wall Street Journal editorial blasting the Democrat's bill, while Massachusetts Democrat Niki Tsongas responded to Republican claims that President Obama aims to socialize the medical system.

BACHMANN: "There is one thing that we need to know about this health care bill that Speaker Pelosi is putting before the American people, it is what President Barack Obama's economic adviser¹¹ Christina Romer said. If this bill passes it will mean 5.5 million job losses.'

TSONGAS: "Attempts to reform our health care system in the past have failed because of false claims that this is socialized medicine. And of course these are the same arguments that the bill's opponents are making today. But it won't work this time, because the American people are tired of unaffordable premiums¹², of unfairly losing coverage and the fine print [by insurance companies] that prevents them from getting the care they need."

Though Democrats initially¹³ estimated the cost over 10 years at $894 billion, below a goal set by President Obama, the estimate by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is just over $1 trillion.

That provided additional ammunition¹⁴ for Republicans who will have one opportunity to offer a substitute for the Democrat's legislation.

Republicans would not require Americans to obtain health insurance or companies to offer it, would not provide subsidies¹⁵, and not prohibit companies from denying coverage.

Worrying for the White House is the possibility that the U.S. Senate may fail to bring up a health care reform bill in coming weeks.
 
 
Senator Harry¹⁶ Reid (file photo)
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declined to state unequivocally that a measure would come to the floor, adding that a good bill rather than speed is the goal.

"They want, the Democrats, to do this the right way, not the fast way," said Harry Reid.

Democratic congressional leaders are assessing losses by their two state governors in off-year elections on Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey¹⁷. They are also concern about the political impact that failure to pass health care this year could have in 2010, when congressional mid-term elections will be held. But speaking to reporters on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed a suggestion that election losses would make it harder for Democrats to achieve President Obama's health care goals.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 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。

6 assail   

v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥

参考例句：

• The opposition's newspapers assail the government each day.反对党的报纸每天都对政府进行猛烈抨击。
• We should assist parents not assail them.因此我们应该帮助父母们，而不是指责他们。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

8 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。

9 rationing   

n.定量供应

参考例句：

• Wartime austerities included food rationing and shortage of fuel. 战时的艰苦包括食物配给和燃料短缺。
• Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。

10 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。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 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》

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

17 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。