英语听力精选进阶版 Trump Drug Pricing 'Blueprint' Could Take Years To Build

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Today President Trump¹ laid out his plan to deal with the high and still-rising prices of prescription² drugs. He called it the most sweeping³ proposal in history, and he promised people will see results soon.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will have tougher negotiation⁴, more competition and much lower prices at the pharmacy⁵ counter. And it'll start to take effect very soon.

KELLY: The president spoke⁶ in the Rose Garden. And as he spoke, the Department of Health and Human Services released what it is calling a blueprint⁷ for lowering drug costs, a blueprint that NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak has been poring over. And she is here now to tell us all about what's in it. Hey, Alison.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁸: Hey, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So what's in the plan?

KODJAK: So the president called it sweeping, and he's right. It touches on everything from the drug approval process, the patent system, the incentives⁹ that drive the drug prices higher and even how Medicare works and foreign trade. And it tries to lower prices for individuals but also addresses the overall cost of prescriptions¹⁰ to the whole system, to the economy. But a lot of what's laid out are just ideas. And, you know, they're good or bad ideas, but they're ideas. They're not concrete proposals. They're things the administration wants to study or ask for feedback on.

KELLY: Are there any concrete proposals in here? I mean, are there specific ideas for how they're going to lower drug prices?

KODJAK: There are a few. There's a lot of very wonky ones that are, like, how Medicare pays for things. But there's, like, one specific one that would allow senior citizens on Medicare to get their generic¹¹ drugs for free. And so that would cut costs to the senior citizens but also to the system because they would be more likely to buy the generic drug. There's one more that would require drug companies in all those ads we see on TV advertising¹² drugs - they would have to actually include their price, which might drive...

KELLY: Oh.

KODJAK: ...Them to sort of say, oh, maybe we shouldn't give it a thousand dollars a pill for this drug. So the idea there is to, you know, shame them I guess into lowering their prices.

KELLY: And meanwhile, drug ads get even longer on television...

KODJAK: (Laughing) That would be funny.

KELLY: ...With more disclosures.

KODJAK: Yeah. And then there's a bunch of proposals that are aimed at middlemen in the pharmaceutical¹³ industry. And the president really seemed to have his sights on that one. Here is what he said.

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TRUMP: We're very much eliminating the middlemen. The middlemen became very, very rich, all right?

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TRUMP: Whoever those middlemen were - a lot of people never even figured it out - they're rich. They won't be so rich anymore.

KELLY: All right, Alison Kodjak, help us figure out who these middlemen were and what exactly the Trump administration wants to do to make them less so.

KODJAK: Yeah, so they're, like, what are called pharmacy benefit managers. These are the people like Express Scripts or CVS Caremark that implement¹⁴ your pharmacy program for your insurance company or your employer. But a lot of people say they play both sides. They negotiate rebates¹⁵, and then they take a share of it. So it's in their interest to see drug prices higher. So what Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said after the president's speech was they want to eliminate the whole rebates system, and that would really change how drug prices are - how drugs are sold across the country.

KELLY: You're telling me a lot about what the administration wants to do, what the administration might do.

KODJAK: Yeah.

KELLY: How likely that all of this is going to come to pass and how soon?

KODJAK: Yeah, so some of this stuff was in the president's budget, and they need Congress to pass it. So it's unclear what will happen there. And a lot of these, like I said, are - they're asking for information. And as Secretary Azar said, many of these ideas may take many years to implement.

KELLY: NPR's Alison Kodjak, thanks so much.

KODJAK: Thanks, Mary Louise.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

8 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。

9 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

11 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

12 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

13 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

15 rebates   

n.退还款( rebate的名词复数 )；回扣；返还（退还的部份货价）；折扣

参考例句：

• The VAT system offers advantages, such as rebates on exports. 增值税有其优点，如对出口商品实行回扣。 来自辞典例句
• In more recent years rate rebates have been introduced for households. 近年地方税的减免已适用于家庭。 来自辞典例句