美国国家公共电台 NPR Rural Californians Want Price Relief From GOP Health Bill, But Most Won't Get It

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

There have been several versions of the Republican repeal¹ and replace bill, but none of them fix the real hole in the Affordable² Care Act. That's affordability³. In California, the state marketplace, Covered California, is one of the most stable in the country. The people who live in the rural northeast corner of the state still have complaints. From member station KQED, April Dembosky reports.

APRIL DEMBOSKY, BYLINE⁴: Aaron Albaugh appears out from under the brim of his cowboy hat, surveying the acres of hayfields in front of him. Right now he's in charge of more than 400 cows.

AARON ALBAUGH: Each one has their own personality, and they're wired differently. And some of them you like being around, and some of you'd just as soon not have to deal with (laughter).

DEMBOSKY: This corner of California is remote. Albaugh's closest neighbor lives a half mile away.

ALBAUGH: And that's my brother. We live on the same ranch⁵. If I want to go see a movie it's 70 miles round trip. If I want to go bowling⁶ that's a hundred miles round trip.

DEMBOSKY: Living a half day's drive from civilization, Albaugh says you learn to do without. If your refrigerator breaks, you put your food on ice until the weekend when you can go buy a new one - same thing with health care.

ALBAUGH: Put a Band-Aid on it. I was raised, you know, you're - you don't need to cry and to suck it up, buttercup. And that's kind of the way I still live. And I try to treat my kids the same way.

DEMBOSKY: So when people are already used to doing without health coverage⁷, it's particularly annoying to have the government say you have to buy it. Just like the movie theater, most doctors are miles away.

In Modoc County, there's nowhere to have a baby. Tessa Anklin gave birth to her son in Klamath Falls, Ore.

TESSA ANKLIN: Which is actually an hour and a half from here.

DEMBOSKY: Anklin makes about $15 an hour as a receptionist. Her husband does seasonal⁸ work baling hay and herding⁹ cattle. Two years ago, they had a plan through Covered California, and with the subsidy¹⁰ they paid $2 a month.

ANKLIN: We had a $10,000 deductible. So really we had nothing.

DEMBOSKY: Then last year, her monthly premium¹¹ jumped to $600. She's not sure why. It was likely a technical glitch¹² because it was the same plan, same household income, same hour-and-a-half drive to see doctors they almost never need. Anklin thought of all the other ways she could spend that money.

ANKLIN: It makes a car payment. It's certainly almost your mortgage payment, groceries for at least four months (laughter).

DEMBOSKY: That's the reason she decided¹³ to cancel her health plan this year and go without. But she still has to pay a penalty. Anklin says she'd be happy to see Obamacare go.

ANKLIN: To me, it's no good. To me, it's no good if you have to force people to pay yet another something out of their paycheck when they're already trying to survive with what they have. It should be an option.

DEMBOSKY: But under the Republican repeal and replace plan, Anklin's premiums¹⁴ would go up to more than $2,000 a month. And that's not what she had in mind.

ANKLIN: I'd love that insurance could be more affordable for families that need it, for families that work hard for it.

DEMBOSKY: With the Republican bill in limbo¹⁵, Democrats¹⁶ have been more willing to admit to Obamacare's flaws. And there are fixes that have gotten bipartisan support in the past. But it's not clear if the two parties can agree on one that helps rural Americans like Anklin. For NPR News, I'm April Dembosky in Modoc County, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF YPPAH'S "SOME HAVE SAID")

SIMON: This story is part of a reporting partnership¹⁷ between NPR, KQED and Kaiser Health News.

(SOUNDBITE OF YPPAH'S "SOME HAVE SAID")

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 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。

3 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

6 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

7 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。

8 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

9 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

11 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

12 glitch   

n.干扰；误操作，小故障

参考例句：

• There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
• It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障，重新启动主机就能解决了。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 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》

15 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

16 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》

17 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。