美国国家公共电台 NPR--Manchin and other senators are opposed to plans to overhaul VA health care

Manchin and other senators are opposed to plans to overhaul¹ VA health care

Transcript²

Sen. Joe Manchin spoke³ with veterans about a proposed overhaul to Veterans Affairs health care. Manchin and a group of bipartisan senators say it would drastically hurt the care veterans receive.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The Department of Veterans Affairs could overhaul its health care system. Some of its new recommendations include shutting down some services at facilities used by many of the nation's veterans and outsourcing care to private providers. The proposals haven't been widely well-received. As NPR's Dave Mistich reports, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and a group of bipartisan lawmakers are hoping to keep those changes from going into effect.

DAVE MISTICH, BYLINE⁵: Earlier this year, the VA released a report calling for sweeping⁶ changes to its health care facilities across the nation. As part of the recommendations, three of West Virginia's four VA medical centers would see a reduction in services, including emergency care and surgeries. Other rural states would be similarly affected⁷, forcing some vets⁸ to travel long distances. In 2018, Congress passed legislation calling for an audit⁹ of VA facilities. Senator Joe Manchin and others say the recommended changes that came out of that audit ignore the realities most veterans face.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOE MANCHIN: The recommendations have been based on faulty data taken during a pandemic. Anything that came out of that pandemic - people were not in the right frame of mind. And that's not giving our veterans a fair shake when you're doing it in the most trying times and saying, what do you think about this, this or this?

MISTICH: That's Manchin at a town hall event this week speaking to veterans. He and a group of bipartisan senators have introduced a bill that would wipe out the commission that is supposed to oversee¹⁰ these proposed changes. That panel is known as AIR, For some time, Manchin and other lawmakers have worried rural veterans would pay the biggest cost.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MANCHIN: Now that we finally have the VA recommendations to the AIR Commission, turns out that we were right.

MISTICH: Jack¹¹ Gerrard is a Vietnam vet⁴ from Clarksburg, W.Va. He says he's concerned about job losses at VA facilities, as well as travel times and, most importantly, just getting access to the care he and his fellow vets need.

JACK GERRARD: If we let this happen now, who knows what they're going to cut down the road?

MISTICH: Like Gerrard, Manchin says he's worried about private health care providers being equipped to handle the specialized¹² care veterans require.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MANCHIN: I don't know how they think by closing any of our facilities, that the hospitals and clinics are going to be able to take care of our veterans. And they don't have that experience.

MISTICH: Although the AIR Commission has yet to be fully¹³ seated, Manchin says he's committed to getting rid of it before it has an opportunity to implement¹⁴ the recommendations. For NPR News, I'm Dave Mistich in Clarksburg, W.Va.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRAD MEHIDAU'S "HIGHWAY RIDER")

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 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。

3 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。

4 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

5 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。

6 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？

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

9 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

10 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

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。