美国国家公共电台 NPR Big Tobacco Spends Big To Block A Tax And Medicaid Expansion In Montana

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

And now we're going to look at how one issue in one race is playing out. The tobacco industry is pouring money into Montana to fight a ballot¹ initiative that would raise tobacco taxes to pay for Medicaid expansion. Montana Public Radio's Eric Whitney reports that the stakes are high for about 100,000 Montanans benefiting from the expansion.

ERIC WHITNEY, BYLINE²: Montana expanded Medicaid, barely passing the state legislature in 2015. And it was with the condition that it would expire in 2019 unless lawmakers vote to reapprove it. The tobacco tax initiative is an attempt to go around the Montana legislature because lots of state lawmakers say Montana simply can't afford it. Fearing they might not renew expansion, Montana's hospitals and other expansion fans came up with a ballot measure this year to keep it going and to pay for it with the tobacco tax.

AMANDA CAHILL: We poked⁴ the bear. That's for sure.

WHITNEY: Amanda Cahill works for the American Heart Association and is a spokesperson for the initiative.

CAHILL: It's not because we were all around the table saying, hey, we want to have a huge fight. It's because it's the right thing to do.

WHITNEY: But a huge fight they got. Tobacco companies have spent more than $17 million fighting Montana's initiative so far. And that's in a state with not a lot of smokers⁵ - fewer than 200,000. According to the National Institute on Money in Politics, this is the most that cigarette maker³ Altria has ever spent on a state ballot issue. The company is not talking to the media about it. Ben Miller⁶, the chief strategy officer for the nonprofit Well Being Trust, has studied tobacco and tax policy for years.

BEN MILLER: They're not afraid to spend a lot of money. And I do think that that trend plays out elsewhere.

WHITNEY: Miller says, of course, tobacco companies want to kill new taxes on their products wherever they pop up. But they also have an interest in rolling back Medicaid coverage⁷.

MILLER: People that are covered are more likely to not smoke than people who are uninsured.

WHITNEY: Health coverage, including Medicaid, by law, has to give people access to medical help to quit smoking. And Montana's initiative to keep Medicaid expansion going with a new tax of $2 per pack would be a double whammy for tobacco companies, Miller says.

MILLER: Every time you raise cigarette taxes, price per pack results typically lead to a decrease in people smoking. So that works against their business model, which is, you need to smoke, so we can make money.

WHITNEY: A recent poll shows Montana voters evenly split for and against the proposed tobacco tax. If it fails, a leading expansion advocate in the legislature says that means state lawmakers would be more likely to repeal⁸ Medicaid expansion altogether next year. For NPR News, I'm Eric Whitney in Missoula.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This story is part of a reporting partnership⁹ with NPR, Montana Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 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。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

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 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。

9 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。