An alternative to Obamacare?
奥巴马医疗方案的另一个选择?
Founder, Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration (www.wangfoundation.com)
Director, Wang Vision 3D Cataract & LASIK Center (www.wangcataractLASIK.com)
编者的话 2015年是“奥巴马医疗计划”推行的第二年，在第一年实行的基础上，同时在共和党人的努力下，和第一年相比有了一些的进步。纳城的Music City Insurance & Finance（www.musiccityinsurance.com）告诉本报，他们在2014年只售出很少的这种保险产品，但是2015年度有了显著的增加。该公司发言人说：“新的医疗计划对华人社区而言，对新移民（只要在美国有工作许可）放宽了准入门槛，对65岁以上的老人也放宽了限制，计划的选择性增多，对低收入的人群优惠还不错。同时弊病也很多，比如你错过了2015年2月15日的大限，你需要等到明年，并且面临罚款（年收入的1.5%），对中产阶层保费高昂，医师和医院的限制，众多著名保险公司的抵制等。”
全美著名的眼科医师王明旭博士在研究了美国过去和现行的医疗保险方案，包括奥巴马新的医疗方案之后，另辟蹊径，用他独特的视角和丰富的经验提出了新的看法，目前已经得到美国主流社区的好评和关注。众多政治人物，包括可能竞选2016年总统之位的几位重量级共和党人物都在各自的场合中引用王医师的新方案。
我们用头版刊出王医师的文章，希望给华人社区和在美国的华人们有新的启发。另外，如果你的公司没有提供团体医疗保险或者你为你自己工作，你可以打电话到Music City Insurance免费咨询，电话：615-678-9911。
Obamacare has created divisive issues in America today. Though its intentions is good, i.e., to find a way to pay for healthcare for the poor and uninsured, the way Obamacare goes about achieving this is wrong, i.e., involving bigger government, raising taxes and negatively affecting the existing (and functioning) aspects of the healthcare system. As a physician who has provided care for 24 years, I believe that there is an alternative to Obamacare that can help reduce the financial burden to care for the poor, while simultaneously preserving the rest of the healthcare system: embedded charity care.
奥巴马医疗保险的实行给另今日美国众说纷纭，虽然出发点是好的，比如，为那些贫穷和没有保险的人群找到了一条出路，但具体到如何落实是差强人意的，比如，使得政府愈加臃肿不堪，税收增加，以及为医疗保险系统带来了负面影响。作为一名在医疗行业从业24年的医生，我相信以下的奥巴马医疗方案的另一个选择可以为贫困人群有效地减少他们的财政负担，同时又能保护医保系统，那就是：植入式的慈善关怀。
I have asked many physicians to see if they would be willing to donate a small portion of their time to care for the poor, and most said yes. However, most of them are not actually doing it today because they are too busy to leave their offices to work at charitable healthcare facilities. Furthermore, unlike private clinics which run efficiently with state-of-the-art technologies, many charitable care facilities are not well managed and technologies are outdated.
我曾问过很多医生，想知道是否他们有这个意愿来奉献他们个人的时间给贫困人群，大多数都说他们愿意。然而，他们中的大多数人直至今日都没有去实行，因为他们繁忙的工作性质以致于不可能离开诊所去慈善机构工作。此外，不同于个人诊所先进和有效的科技，很多慈善机构的管理不太完善，并且科技和设备也老旧。
There is, however, a creative solution to this problem, i.e., embedding charitable healthcare within existing private clinics. Using such a system, not only can we provide care for the poor with updated technologies, but we also give all physicians a chance to participate and help to solve the problem.
尽管如此，仍然有一条富有创意的解决办法，比如，在现有的个人诊所中可以加入植入式的慈善功能。如此一来，不仅可以为贫困人群提供先进的科技，而且可以给所有具备奉献意愿的医生们一个参与回报社会的机会并可以解决长久以来备受诟病的医保。
We have tested this idea for the last 10 years, and it works! Ten years ago we established a 501c(3) non-profit sight foundation, which consists of three parts: 1) a team of eye doctors who donate a small portion of their services, 2) a group of medical companies that contribute supplies, and 3) a board of philanthropic leaders in our community who donate financially and assist in fundraising.
在过去的十年中我们就已经开始有计划地试点这个方案，它运行得很理想！我们诊所于10年前创建了一个a 501c(3)非盈利组织—王氏复明基金会，包含三部分：1）一批眼科医生愿意奉献他们的一部分服务； 2）一批医疗公司愿意贡献它们的设备；3）我们社区的一批慈善组织领导人愿意在财务上奉献并且帮助进行慈善募款。
For example, last year our foundation took care of Maria, a 15-year-old blind orphan who was born prematurely and had a retinal detachment in one eye, and a history of recurrent uveitis, end-stage cataracts and only light-perception vision in the other eye. Maria’s care was handled through a private eye clinic, where she underwent a complex, difficult and multifaceted cataract surgery. When the patch was removed from her eye, Maria was able to see the world and herself for the very first time!
例如，王氏复明基金会在2014年成功地援助了来自罗马尼亚的15岁盲女孤儿Maria，她的一只眼睛因早产导致视网膜脱落，另一只眼睛则因为复发葡萄膜炎和白内障晚期造成只有光感。我们的团队-私人眼科诊所和王氏复明基金会资助她做了一场复杂并困难重重的白内障手术并最终取得成功。当移开她眼睛上的纱布，这位15岁的孤女Maria第一次看见了自己和这个美丽的世界！
The remarkable success of Maria’s journey from darkness to sight indicates that the idea of embedded care does in fact work. We have used this system to help a large number of underprivileged patients. To date, the foundation has helped patients from well over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge.
Maria从黑暗走向光明的鼓舞人心的真实故事有力地证明了将慈善植入医疗这个方案的可行性。我们通过这个系统援助过很多的弱势群体的病人。到目前为止，来自美国40个州以及全世界55个国家的病人受惠于王氏复明基金会，所有这些病人都接受了免费治疗。
However, in order to make the concept work on a large scale, we need physician participation. I envision a system in which hospitals make embedded care a requirement for physicians who want admitting privileges, just as they currently require them to take emergency-room calls. We have found that as long as there is a system in place to identify, qualify and triage these patients appropriately so physicians don’t have to leave their offices and can thus focus on what they do the best, i.e., taking care of patients, and also the percentage of such charity patients is small, most physicians are willing to help. Furthermore I think we can introduce this system with the faith-based physician community first, who may be excited to lead the way.
然而，仅靠一己之力是绵薄的，我们需要更多的医生参与到这个系统，以便于更多的病人受惠。我呼吁建立一个这样的系统，即：医院建立植入式慈善医疗并要求医生们执行，就象现行医院里施行的医生随时听命于急诊室传呼一样。我们的经验发现，如果有这样一个系统可以准确地定位并分流病人的话，医生们就无须离开他们的办公室，可以给病人们更好的关怀。而且因为总体上来说接受慈善医疗援助的病人总量并不会很多，大多数医生们是有精力而且有良好的意愿付出他们的时间和技术的。此外，我认为我们可以把这套系统先推行到有宗教信仰基础的医生团体中，他们一定会欣然参与并开这个先河的。
If this embedded care system is duplicated in all medical fields throughout the country, not only will we reduce the financial burden of caring for the poor, but also we will help protect what Americans care about the most--our freedom of choice. As a nation today, we lack the financial resources to care for the poor, but if we don’t want a bigger government and higher taxes, we do need to be more proactive in helping devise solutions. Embedded charity care may benefit both those in need and everyone else by reducing overall healthcare cost and offer our nation a possible alternative and partial solution to Obamacare.
大胆设想一下，如果植入式慈善医疗可以在全美推行，不仅可以为贫困人群减轻财务负担，而且还可以保护美国人最为关注的一点—自由选择的权利。今日美国缺少财政资源帮助贫困人群，但如果我们不想看到一个日益臃肿不堪的政府和增高的税收，我们需要更多积极的解决方案。简而言之，植入式慈善医疗方案通过降低医疗保险的成本，可以使得需要援助的人群和普通民众双方都受惠，而且可以为我们的国家现在施行的奥巴马医保提供一个选择方案。
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