Weekly Address: Celebrating Fifty Years of Medicare and Medicaid (August 01, 2015)

奧巴馬每周電視講話：醫療保險制度50周年 總統發表講話

Hi, everybody. This week, there was a big birthday you might have missed. Medicare and Medicaid turned 50 years old. And that's something worth celebrating.

大家好!本周，大家可能錯過了一個重大的節日。醫療保險和醫療補助制度已經50歲了。這是一件值得紀念的事情。

If one of the best measures of a country is how it treats its more vulnerable citizens-seniors, the poor, the sick-then America has a lot to be proud of. Think about it. Before Social Security, too many seniors lived in poverty. Before Medicare, only half had some form of health insurance. Before Medicaid, parents often had no help covering the cost of care for a child with a disability.

如果說衡量一個國家優秀與否的最好標準就是他如何對待老人、窮人、病人等弱勢公民的話，美國在這一點上可以相當自豪。大家回想一下。社會保險實施之前，有太多的老人生活在貧困之中。醫療保險實施之前，全國僅有一半的人有某種形式的醫療保險。醫療補助實施以前，殘疾兒童的父母需要自己承擔照顧孩子的花費。

But as Americans, we declared that our citizens deserve a basic measure of security and dignity. And today, the poverty rate for seniors is less than half of what it was fifty years ago. Every American over 65 has access to affordable health care. And today, we're finally finishing the job-since I signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the uninsured rate for all Americans has fallen by about one-third.

但作為美國人，我們宣布我們的公民應該享有基本的安寧與尊嚴。今天，生活在貧困之中的老人比例已經下降到50年前的一半以下。每個65歲以上的美國人都可以享受平價醫療保險。今天，我們最終完成了這一任務，自從我簽署《平價醫保法》以后，未參保人數比例已經下降了約三分之一。

These promises we made as a nation have saved millions of our own people from poverty and hardship, allowing us new freedom, new independence, and the chance to live longer, better lives. That's something to be proud of. It's heroic. These endeavors-these American endeavors-they didn't just make us a better country. They reaffirmed that we are a great country.

在國家層面我們做出這樣的承諾，讓數百萬人民脫離了貧困，讓我們享有新的自由和自主，有機會享受更長久、更優質的生活。這是值得我們驕傲的。這是我們的英雄們，開拓者們，篳路藍縷開創出來的局面，他們不僅僅讓我們生活在一個優秀的國家，更定義了一個偉大國家的標準。

And a great country keeps the promises it makes. Today, we're often told that Medicare and Medicaid are in crisis. But that's usually a political excuse to cut their funding, privatize them, or phase them out entirely-all of which would undermine their core guarantee. The truth is, these programs aren't in crisis. Nor have they kept us from cutting our deficits by two-thirds since I took office. What is true is that every month, another 250,000 Americans turn 65 years old, and become eligible for Medicare. And we all deserve a health care system that delivers efficient, high-quality care. So to keep these programs strong, we'll have to make smart changes over time, just like we always have.

一個偉大的國家總是堅守她的承諾。今天，我們經常聽到醫療保險和醫療補助制度危機重重。但這通常都是某些人想要減少對其的資金投入、對其私有化、甚至是完全推翻這一體系的政治借口而已，所有這些企圖都是要削弱這些政策的核心保障能力。事實上，這些制度并非處在危機之中。更別提自我主政以來，在這些政策推動下，我們將財政赤字削減了三分之二。事實是，每個月都有25萬美國人步入65歲，成為醫療保險的受益者。我們都應該享有醫療保險，享受高效、優質的服務。因此，讓這些政策更穩固，我們需要經受時間的考驗，像以往一樣，做出明智的選擇。

Today, we're actually proving that's possible. The Affordable Care Act has already helped secure Medicare's funding for another 13 years. The Affordable Care Act has saved more than nine million folks on Medicare 15 billion dollars on their prescription medicine. It has expanded Medicaid to help cover 12.8 million more Americans, and to help more seniors live independently. And we're moving our health care system toward models that reward the quality of the care you receive, not the quantity of care you receive. That means healthier Americans and a healthier federal budget.

今天，我們正在證明這么做是可行的。《平價醫保法》已經為今后13年的醫療保險資金來源提供了保障?！镀絻r醫保法》讓900多萬人利用醫療保險在處方藥支出上節約了150億美元。同時，該法還新增1280萬人享受醫療補助，讓更多的老人可以享有獨立的生活。我們正在改革醫療保險體系，從你享受到的醫療服務的數量評價體系向你享受到的醫療服務的質量的評價體系轉變。這意味著未來美國人會更健康，我們的聯邦預算也會更穩健。

Today, these programs are so fundamental to our way of life that it's easy to forget how hard people fought against them at the time. When FDR created Social Security, critics called it socialism. When JFK and LBJ worked to create Medicare, the cynics said it would take away our freedom. But ultimately, we came to see these programs for what they truly are-a promise that if we work hard, and play by the rules, we'll be rewarded with a basic measure of dignity, security, and the freedom to live our lives as we want.

今天，這些制度已經成為我們生活方式的基本組成部分，我們很容易忘記，曾今的人們是如何強烈反對的這些制度的。富蘭克林·德蘭諾·羅斯?？偨y創立社會保險制度時，批評人士稱他是社會主義者。當約翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪總統和林登·貝恩斯·約翰遜總統致力建立醫療保險制度時，攻擊者稱其會破壞我們的自由價值。但最終，我們都看到了，這些制度的真正力量。這是國家的承諾，只要你努力工作，遵紀守法，我們就可以享受到我們想要的體面、安全、自由的生活。

It's a promise that previous generations made to us, and a promise that our generation has to keep.

這是先輩為我們許下的承諾，而我們應該把這項承諾傳承下去。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

謝謝大家，祝周末愉快！

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