考研英语阅读训练题:时文精选_大学英语阅读

考研英语阅读训练题:时文精选

　　But then again

　　Clearly the Republicans have the means and the motive to bog downObamacare. But that does not make this wise public policy. Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think-tank, argues that their approach is a scorched-earth policy that will lead to great uncertainty for a few years. One straw blew in the wind recently. McDonalds, a hamburger chain, said it might be forced to drop its (already meagre) health-insurance coverage because of onerous provisions in the new health laws. Administration officials rushed to offer a waiver to the firm, fearing a stampede for the exit from other big employers of workers who are on low wages. Mr Butler believes that many more such arbitrary waivers, both for firms and for states, are coming. So health care is likely to turn into a mess, and the less Republicans are implicated in the disaster the better for them.

　　And would killing the bill really be popular? It is true that the reforms are unpopular at the moment. But a new poll published last month by the Associated Press found that twice as many Americans think the new law did not go far enough as think it went too far. Many of those disgruntled people are actively hostile to Obamacare. But they might be even more hostile to any effort to kill the law.

　　Some parts of it are popular. Although the main provisions of the new laws do not kick in for a few years, the administration has already implemented some regulations that voters like. For example, it has stopped insurers from excluding pre-existing conditions from coverage for children, and they can no longer cancel policies for any reason other than fraud. Subsidies are also already on offer to help smaller businesses with tax credits, and to offer prescription-drug rebates on Medicare, the government health scheme for the elderly. Polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a non-partisan think-tank, shows each of these provisions is popular with 60% or more of Americans. And as people start to enjoy these new benefits, the popularity of the bill that created them may well rise.