美国国家公共电台 NPR--The Biden administration is handing COVID costs to the health care industry

The Biden administration is handing COVID costs to the health care industry

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Stephanie Armour² of the Wall Street Journal about the federal government's plans to shift costs for COVID prevention and treatment to the health care industry.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Biden's administration says it's time for the federal government to stop paying the cost of COVID. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the administration is meeting this week with drugmakers, pharmacies³ and state governments. So who pays instead? We're joined by Stephanie Armour, a health policy reporter at The Wall Street Journal. Good morning.

STEPHANIE ARMOUR: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: So I'm just thinking back through the pandemic. I've had vaccinations⁵. I've had tests. Sometimes they are just free or they seem to be to me. Sometimes they'll charge it to insurance if I have insurance, but otherwise it would be free. How would that change?

ARMOUR: Well, basically, the reason that everything has been free at this point is because the federal government has been purchasing and buying the vaccines⁶ and treatments and allocating⁷ them to states and providers. So there's really been no cost. And what's going to happen - the change that's happening - and it's already underway - is it's going to shift to the more traditional health care industry and market. Insurers will be picking up the cost. And the uninsured - one of the big issues is, how will we maintain access? So you're going to see a real big change that's especially going to kick in after this fall booster season.

INSKEEP: OK. So for those of us who have insurance, this is just a normal deal. We're returning to the market economy, and we've bought insurance, and so we're covered in some way. But what does happen to the uninsured?

ARMOUR: That's a big question. We've got roughly 30 million people in the United States that don't have health coverage⁸. And one of the issues that the Biden administration and the drugmakers are hoping to talk about at this meeting is what kind of systems can be set up to try to maintain some kind of access and equity⁹, especially when you look at vaccines and the importance of maintaining boosters that people will need to keep having at this point. So that's one of the big question marks that's out there.

And there's other issues, too. It's not as easy as just pulling a switch. It's actually a really big lift because - think about it - the antivirals that have now been approved to treat COVID, they're approved by the Food and Drug Administration under what's known as an emergency use authorization¹⁰. And basically, it means that they've done all the trials and are sure that it's a safe product, but it's different than a full approval. And Medicare and Medicaid, which are the federal insurance program, they do not cover antivirals that are approved under the emergency use authorizations.

INSKEEP: Oh. Could that also be true for people who have some kind of private insurance? The insurance company may say, we just don't cover that?

ARMOUR: Right. So that's one of the big issues they're going to have to look at, starting with this meeting, is what do they need to do? Is there a new way they need to get some kind of regulatory approval for these products in order to allow coverage from insurers or Medicare and Medicaid? So there's a lot of hurdles¹¹.

INSKEEP: Can we just take stock of how monumental an intervention¹² this has been by the federal government, starting back in 2020, the government saying, we're going to pick up all the costs, we're going to pay everything because we need everybody or as many people as are willing and as many people as possible to be taken care of, vaccinated¹³ and treated? How huge an intervention has this been over the past couple of years?

ARMOUR: Oh, it's been tens of billions of dollars. There's been really nothing quite like it in terms of a mass vaccination⁴ campaign in the United States. It's truly been historic. And that's why the shift is so important in terms of how we move forward, especially you want to make sure that - one of the reasons that we've been able to do so well is we've had the federal buying power of the federal government. That has a lot of clout¹⁴, and that's not going to be there as we move to this new system. So will we still get access?

INSKEEP: Stephanie Armour, health policy reporter for The Wall Street Journal, thanks so much.

ARMOUR: Oh, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

3 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 allocating   

分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• Administrative practice generally follows the judicial model in allocating burdens of proof. 在分配举证责任方面，行政实践通常遵循司法模式。
• A cyclical multiplexing technique, allocating resources in fixed-time slices. 以固定的时间片分配资源的循环复用技术。

8 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。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

11 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

12 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

13 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

14 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。