纽约时报 民主党人警告称 医改法案将引发"5级火警"(3)

The ruling is just the latest chapter in the tumultuous history of a law

自2010年5月总统奥巴马在没有任何共和党人投票的情况下签署该法案以来，

that has transformed life for millions of Americans since the measure was passed

该法案已经改变了数百万美国人的生活面貌，

without any Republican votes and signed in May 2010 by President Barack Obama.

而德州的裁决不过是这一法案动荡的历史上翻开的最新篇章。

The decision puts Republicans in Congress into a political box.

这一决定也让国会中的共和党人陷入了政治困境。

Most of them tried over and over to repeal¹ the Affordable² Care Act.

因为他们中的大多数人都曾反复尝试废除《平价医疗法案》。

And many of them survived the Democratic wave in midterm elections last month

还有许多人是靠着承诺继续维持法律给予那些投保前就已患病的人群的，

only by vowing³ to preserve the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, protections that would be swept aside by Judge O’Connor.

却被法官奥康纳弃置一旁的保护，才从上个月中期选举的民主浪潮中幸存了下来。

"Republicans in office would mostly prefer to run away from this issue or hope it disappears before they have to deal with it legislatively,"

“在位的共和党人更倾向于逃避这个问题，或者指望在他们必须通过立法解决这个问题之前问题就先消失了。”

said Thomas Miller⁴, a lawyer and health economist⁵ at the American Enterprise Institute and a critic of the law.

法律评论员，美国企业研究所的律师兼健康经济学家托马斯·米勒说到。

After struggling for eight years to come up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act,

在为制定《平价医疗法案》的替代方案而苦苦挣扎了8年之后，

some Republicans in Congress seemed to hope that the judge’s decision would be a catalyst⁶ for cooperation,

国会的一些共和党人似乎希望奥康纳法官的判决能成为国会两党合作的催化剂，

which has been virtually nonexistent to date.

但从目前来看，这一效果实际上是不存在的。

Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon and the departing chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee,

格雷格·沃尔登是来自俄勒冈州的共和党众议员，也是即将离任的能源和商业委员会主席，

said the decision offered "a rare opportunity for truly bipartisan health care reform that protects those with pre-existing conditions."

他说，这项决定“两党真正就保护投保前已患疾病的患者的医疗改革达成一致提供了宝贵的契机。”

In the Senate, two Republicans who have cooperated on health legislation — Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana —

在参议院，两位曾就医疗立法有过合作的共和党人——缅因州的苏珊·柯林斯和路易斯安那州的比尔·卡西迪——

said in separate interviews that the ruling showed the need for a bill like one they introduced last year.

分别在各自的采访中表示，这项裁决表明有必要出台一项像他们去年提议的法案那样的法案。

The bill would keep consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act,

该法案将致使消费者不再受《平价医疗法案》的保护，

but give states much more discretion⁷ over the use of federal funds for health care.

但会让各州在使用联邦医疗基金方面拥有比以前大得多的自主权。

"Obamacare is failing," Mr. Cassidy, a medical doctor, said. "People are going without insurance because they can’t afford it.

“奥巴马医改正在失败，”卡西迪医生说到。“大家都在脱保，因为他们已经交不起保费了。

Democrats⁸ may be doing the political calculus⁹, saying, 'This is great for us because we want to use the issue in 2020.'

民主党人此刻可能正在进行政治盘算，觉得，‘这对我们来说可是件大好事，我们正指望着2020年大选的时候借此发挥一笔呢。’

But I don’t care about the politics.

但我不关心政治。

I’m concerned about that family of four in Louisiana who don’t get a subsidy¹⁰, who are paying $40,000 a year for a policy with a $13,000 deductible."

我只关心路易斯安那州某个没有补贴，每年要交4万美元却只能报销1.3万美元保险费的四口之家。”

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 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

4 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。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

7 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

8 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》

9 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

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。