PBS高端访谈:奥斯丁解决卫生保健一事

 　　RAY SUAREZ: Get close enough to downtown Austin, Texas, and it's not hard to hear why it's called the live music capital of the world. Get a little closer, and the musicians themselves tell a quieter story.

　　That's John Pointer on stage now at Antone's Nightclub. He's a beat-boxing, boot-stomping singer-songwriter who also has type 1 diabetes¹. Like the average Austin musician, he makes less than $16,000 a year, and he can't afford health insurance.

　　JOHN POINTER, musician: So many people said, well, then just get a job. But I think the 10 Austin Music Awards and the national television commercials and the stages upon which I have performed and the audiences that come to see me would disagree that I should just quit and get a job that gives me health care.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Having diabetes made it difficult for Pointer to find an affordable² primary care doctor in Austin. He was paying several hundred dollars a month for coverage³ in the state's high-risk insurance pool, an amount that consumed much of his take-home cash.

　　Then, one day, Pointer decided⁴ to check into an unusual program designed for people like him. It's called the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, or HAAM. Similar in some ways to an insurance company, the group connects with area health providers, works out reimbursement⁵ rates, and helps keep out-of-pocket costs for members manageable.

　　HAAM executive director Carolyn Schwarz says it's the least this city can do.

　　CAROLYN SCHWARZ, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians: The music industry is a $2 billion industry here in Austin. Any night of the week, you can go to one of over 250 venues⁶ to go see live music. It's at our grocery stores, it's in clubs, I mean, everywhere you go in Austin. We're just used to having live music. And so I think of any community that would support something like this, Austin is the ideal place.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Schwarz helped launch HAAM in 2005, and continues to run the group today.

　　She's quick to point out that, despite the similarities, HAAM isn't health insurance. Musicians making less than 250 percent of the poverty level are linked directly with health care providers offering reduced rates for everything from primary care to vision and hearing. HAAM pays for most of the extra costs through grants and fund-raising.

　　CAROLYN SCHWARZ: It does only help the musicians while they're here in Austin, but our musicians had nothing before HAAM, and so the method that they used was called the walk-it-off method. With this program, they have access to a 24-hour nurse call center. They're getting urgent care appointments in a primary care setting. It's very cost-effective for our community.

　　RAY SUAREZ: The noteworthy result, according to musician Ginger⁷ Leigh, is knowing that an unexpected health disaster won't lead to financial ruin. Before HAAM, she spent many years uninsured, and hoping for the best.

　　GINGER LEIGH, musician: And I wouldn't go to doctors as much as I probably should have, because when you can't afford it, you're afraid that they're going to find something that's a really big problem, and all of a sudden your entire life is going to change because you're going to be strapped⁸ with hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical bills if it is something.

　　RAY SUAREZ: That very easily could have been her story. But Leigh discovered HAAM a couple of years before she found a lump in her right breast.

　　Many procedures followed, including a lumpectomy, a mastectomy, and reconstructive surgery. But, to Leigh's relief, most of that was paid for through small co-pays, the charity care donated by a local health group and HAAM.

　　GINGER LEIGH: I would have financially been completely devastated⁹ to have had to walk away with $130,000 to $150,000 in medical expenses. And I certainly couldn't keep doing music to pay for that.

　　RAY SUAREZ: She's now cancer-free.

　　So could this kind of set-up be replicated¹⁰ in other parts of the country? Soul singer Akina Adderley doesn't see why not. She's one of about 3,000 Austin musicians who have accessed HAAM's benefits so far. More join every day.

　　And even though some young adults feel they don't need health coverage, most of those enrolled¹¹ in HAAM are 40 or younger, healthy, and hoping to stay that way.

　　AKINA ADDERLEY, musician: Being able to get up and get out and perform in shows and record on albums, that's our livelihood¹². So, without access to medication or treatment or therapy or things of that nature, when it comes right down to it, if you get sick, then if you don't have help, you are just out and just not getting any income in, nor taking proactive steps to make yourself better.

　　RAY SUAREZ: It's not clear what the impact will be on organizations like HAAM when the rest of the health care reform law goes live.

　　In Texas, the future is especially murky¹³, because officials say they won't expand Medicaid to cover more low-income Americans. But whatever happens, for the musicians of tomorrow, there's a health care option out there they can afford, if only within Austin's famous city limits.

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

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 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。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

6 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

7 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

8 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

10 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

11 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；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 have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

13 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。