美最高法院:医改法案核心内容不违宪

In a surprise conclusion to a constitutional showdown, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Supreme Court's four liberals Thursday to uphold the linchpin of President Barack Obama's health plan, the individual mandate requiring citizens to carry insurance or pay a penalty.

美国最高法院首席大法官罗伯茨(John Roberts)周四与四名自由派大法官支持了总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)医改法案的核心内容，即要求美国公民投保否则将被处以罚款。这一有关医改法案是否违宪的裁决结果出人意料。

By a 5-4 vote, the court held the mandate valid under Congress' constitutional authority "to lay and collect Taxes" to provide for "the general Welfare of the United States." The penalty for failing to carry insurance possesses "the essential feature of any tax," producing revenue for the government, Chief Justice Roberts wrote.

最高法院以五票赞成、四票反对做出裁决：根据宪法赋予国会的征税为美国大众福利提供资金的权力，医改法案中提出的不投保将被处以罚款的内容有效。罗伯茨写道：不投保将受到惩罚，这一点具有任何税赋的基本特点，将为政府创造收入。

Although the Obama administration always asserted the penalty was valid under the federal taxing power, until Thursday no court had fully accepted that theory. Those that upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as the law is known, did so under Congress's constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce.

尽管奥巴马政府一直坚称，根据联邦政府的征税权，不投保受到惩罚的内容是有效的，但直到周四之前，没有一个法院完全接受这一理论。那些支持这部名为《病人保护与廉价医疗法》(Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)的人依据的是宪法赋予国会的监管州际商贸的权力。

The court did find one part of the law unconstitutional, saying its expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program threatened states' existing funding. The court ruled that the federal government can't put sanctions on states' existing Medicaid funding if the states decline to go along with the Medicaid expansion.

最高法院的确发现医改法案的一项内容违背了宪法。最高法院说，医改法案扩大了联邦-州医疗补助计划(Medicaid)，这样做威胁到了各州现有的资金来源。最高法院裁定，如果有的州拒绝依照医改法案扩大医疗补助计划，联邦政府不得针对该州现有的医疗补助计划资金来源施加惩罚。

The ruling leaves the bulk of the law intact and means the fall campaign will present voters with a clear choice between Republicans who want to repeal the law and Democrats led by Mr. Obama, who spent much of the first 14 months of his term pushing his health overhaul through Congress.

最高法院的裁决使得医改法案的大部分内容得以保留，意味着今年秋季的总统大选中选民将面临明确的选择：一边是希望废除医改法案的共和党，一边是由奥巴马领导的民主党。奥巴马上任后头14个月的大部分时间里都在努力推进医改法案在国会获得通过。

Addressing the decision from the White House, Mr. Obama declared victory while vowing to improve the law, a nod to its unpopularity among much of the public.

得知这一裁决后，奥巴马在白宫声称自己取得了胜利，同时誓言将完善医改法案，他的这一举动相当于承认了该法案在很大一部分公众中并不受欢迎。

"Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over the country," Mr. Obama said. "We will continue to implement this law. And we'll work together to improve on it where we can. But what we won't do, what the country can't afford to do, is re-fight the political battles of two years ago or go back to the way things were."

奥巴马说，无论政治局势如何发展，今天的裁决都是美国全民的胜利，我们将继续实施这项法律，我们将携手完善这项法律中能够完善的地方；但我们不会做的，也是美国无法承受的是，再打一场两年前那样的政治大战，或是回到原状。

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said: "What the court did not do I will do on my first day as president. ObamaCare was bad policy yesterday. It's bad policy today."

共和党准总统候选人罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)说，最高法院没有做的事，我将在就任总统第一天去做；奥巴马医改法案过去是糟糕的政策，现在仍是糟糕的政策。