用英语聊聊医疗保险（一）

对于上班族来说，生大病的时候医疗保险很重要，保什么，不保什么可得弄清楚。今天我们来通过英语对话了解一下美国公司员工享受的医疗保险福利。

Andy向同事Jane咨询公司医疗保险的事。

Andy: Hey, Jane...are you familiar with our company's insurance policies?

Jane: Umm...I think so. What's up?

A: I've never really paid attention to the fine print of our insurance policies...but it looks like I'm going to need to make a claim.

J: Really? Are you OK?

A: I have a slipped disc in my lower back and the doctor says surgery is probably the best option. Does our worker insurance cover this kind of thing?

Andy问Jane熟不熟悉公司的医疗保险条款，insurance是保险，policies是条款，医生说他腰椎肩盘突出，可能要做手术，需要向保险公司make a claim，提出医疗赔偿。Andy说，自己从没仔细研究过公司医疗保险的fine print(规定细则)，不知道做腰椎肩盘手术，保险公司是不是出钱，这里动词用cover, to cover this kind of thing 意思是保险涵盖这类治疗。

J: If the injury is workplace related I'm sure it's completely covered.

A: Hummm...I think I'll have to talk to the doctor again about that. Anyway...now that I'm going to have to make some claims, I think I'd better try and understand how the system works. Would you mind breaking it down for me?

J: Sure. Basically we have two insurance policies for employees...workman's compensation and medical insurance. The company pays the premiums for workman's compensation, and for a significant part of the medical coverage, but you pay part of that premium, too.

Jane说，如果病情起因跟工作有关，那保险肯定是管的，她还给Andy做了进一步解释，这里用的break something down意思是把一件事情分成几部分，详细说明。Jane说，公司有两种保险，一种是workman's compensation(工人抚恤金保险)，保费由公司出;另一种是medical coverage(医疗保险)，公司出一大部分保费，其余由员工出，在医疗保险中，保费是premium。

A: That's the charge for insurance I see on my pay slip each month, right?

J: Yep. Every country in the world has a different system, but here we buy insurance from a private provider.

A: So workman's compensation is if I slip and break my arm while working in the office or on the job, right?

J: That's right. The company pays for all your medical bills and there is also some financial compensation if you have to take days off to see doctors or spend time recuperating.

Andy说，自己每月工资单上都会有一栏扣的就是医疗保险的保费，工资单在英语里叫pay slip. Andy又问，workman's compensation是不是只管在工作场所或是工作期间受的伤，Jane回答说，没错，在这种情况下，不仅一切医疗费用都由公司出，而且如果员工需要take days off请假去看医生，或是休养(recuperate)，还能得到某些经济补贴。