VOA标准英语2012--Health Care Expert Details Ways to Cut Costs

Health Care Expert Details Ways to Cut Costs

Americans expressed their views on health care in late March as the Supreme¹ Court heard arguments on a law many call "Obamacare." Health care is so expensive that without insurance, many people could not afford it. But health insurance is also expensive. Close to 50 million Americans do not have insurance for health care. 

Dr. Donald Berwick is an expert on health care issues who recently retired² as the head of US government health programs for the elderly and the poor (Medicare and Medicaid). He's currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a policy research organization.

"I know that the best way to reduce costs is to improve quality, not to cut back on care," he said. 

Dr. Berwick co-authored an article on that topic in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He says following proper procedures can reduce expensive mistakes, mistakes resulting from post-operative complications or dangerous reactions when a patient is given the wrong medicine. Costs mount, too, when health care is not coordinated³, for instance, when a patient sees both a primary care doctor and a specialist and neither knows what medicines or tests the other is prescribing. 

Dr. Berwick says unnecessary treatment also drives up costs. “For example, getting antibiotics⁴ for a viral infection. That doesn’t do any good at all, and yet we do it. We do it all the time," he said. 

And then there's the bane of every doctor or nurse's job - filling out forms. “Lots of different players in health care add costs by requiring you to jump through hoops⁵ if you are a doctor or nurse filling out forms and things like that that don’t add any value," said Dr. Berwick. 

Dr. Berwick also points to the high cost of diagnostic procedures. In the United States, MRIs and CT scans cost many times what they cost in other countries.

Researchers says the U.S. spends 17 per cent of its gross domestic product on health care. That number is expected to reach 20 per cent in the next 8 years. “If we don’t work on waste and improvement of care as the fundamental agenda for reduction of cost we’re headed over a cliff, bad things are going to happen," he said. 

However, Dr. Berwick says if costs can be contained, money will available for procedures and medicines that work. 

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

5 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）