美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Picks Alex Azar To Lead Health And Human Services

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

President Trump¹ has announced his choice to become the new secretary of Health and Human Services. Alex Azar is a former drug company executive who also served as deputy HHS secretary in the George W. Bush administration. If he is confirmed, he'll be charged with administering the Affordable² Care Act, a law that President Trump has tried repeatedly to repeal³ and which the nominee⁴ himself has publicly opposed.

Joining us now is NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak to tell us more about Trump's choice. Hello, Alison.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Robert.

SIEGEL: The president today announced his choice on Twitter. Alex Azar would succeed Tom Price as HHS secretary. Price, of course, resigned in September in the midst of a controversy⁶ over his choosing to travel on private chartered airplanes at the expense of taxpayers⁷. What can you tell us about Alex Azar?

KODJAK: Well, unlike Secretary Price, he is not a doctor. He is a lawyer. And most recently he was president of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical⁸ giant, their U.S. operations. He left that job in January. He served as No. 2 at HHS under - in the George W. Bush administration. And today I talked with former HHS secretary Mike Leavitt, who was Azar's boss at that time.

He says Azar - he described him as sort of a meticulous⁹ bureaucrat¹⁰. He knows how the government works and particularly how the regulatory system works, which may not sound very interesting, but Leavitt says that's probably exactly why the president chose him. Since the repeal of the Affordable Care Act has failed, the administration's likely going to try to change how the law works from the inside, changing the regulations that govern how the law is implemented¹¹.

SIEGEL: Wouldn't that take a great deal of time? Regulations take months or even years to revise. Do you have any sense of what he'll actually try to do?

KODJAK: There's not a whole lot out there in terms of specifics. Obviously, we're undergoing open enrollment¹² right now, so that's already ongoing¹³. But last spring, Azar was on Fox News, and in that interview, he sort of declared the Affordable Care Act pretty close to dead. Here's how he put it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ALEX AZAR: Well, it's certainly circling the drain.

KODJAK: And then he went on to say that there isn't much the government can do to save it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AZAR: There's actually fairly few levers that the government can do at this point to try to stabilize¹⁴ this fundamentally broken system.

KODJAK: Now, since then, the Affordable Care Act markets have opened. People are enrolling¹⁵. But when he said - made these statements, Congress was still working on Obamacare repeal bills. I suspect that since then he's come up with some ideas. And one that he's mentioned a few times is creating a reinsurance program that's very popular with Republicans. They protect insurance companies from unexpected losses, and they also theoretically can help lower premiums¹⁷.

SIEGEL: Of course, the Department of Health and Human Services is huge. It's more than just the ACA. It oversees¹⁸ a trillion dollars of government spending - Medicare, Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration. Where else could Alex Azar leave his mark?

KODJAK: Well, he has spoken publicly about Medicaid, the program for the poor and disabled and the elderly. President Obama expanded it, and Republicans for the last year have been trying to rein¹⁶ it in because they worry about this huge and growing entitlement program. Azar at a conference earlier this year in an interview said he'd like to see Medicaid turned into a block grant program. And that was in most of the Republican bills. The concern is that if the money is capped as a block grant, it won't allow for the increases in health care costs that are going to be part of this growing need for Medicaid. So the fear is that services may have to be cut.

SIEGEL: And just for a moment, a word about pharmaceuticals¹⁹. He's a drug company - a former drug company executive.

KODJAK: Well, President Trump has been promising²⁰ to lower drug prices, and in his tweet today announcing Azar he said that again. So what Leavitt says is that Azar knows how the drug system works. And he might be able to do that.

SIEGEL: NPR's Alison Kodjak on Alex Azar, President Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary to succeed Tom Price. Alison, thanks.

KODJAK: Thanks, Robert.

(SOUNDBITE OF TYCHO'S "HORIZON")

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 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 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。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

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 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 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。

9 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

10 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

12 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

15 enrolling   

v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
• You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了，比利。 来自辞典例句

16 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

17 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》

18 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

19 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。