VOA时事新闻2023 美国老年人买不起基本生活必需品?

（单词翻译）

Living simply is at the heart of Alex Morisey's Quaker religion.

简朴的生活是亚历克斯·莫里西的贵格会的核心。

The 82-year-old graduated from a good college and spent years working in nonprofit organizations.

这位82岁的老人毕业于一所好大学，曾在非营利性组织工作多年。

He helped farmworkers, people living in public housing, and the mentally ill.

他帮助过农场工人、住在公共住房的人和精神病患者。

He was also an aid worker in Central and South America.

他还曾在中南美洲从事过援助工作。

Now he lives in a nursing home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

如今，他住在宾夕法尼亚州费城的一家养老院里。

But halfway¹ through the month, he has almost no money.

但到了这个月的中旬，他几乎没有钱了。

Morisey is one of many Americans living in nursing homes who face a difficult situation.

莫里西是许多生活在养老院里的面临困境的美国人之一。

To stay in the nursing home, they must hand over all their income and only receive a small payment, as low as $30 a month, to buy the things they would like.

为了留在养老院，他们必须交出所有收入，而每月收到的钱低至30美元，用来购买他们想要的东西。

The payment is called the personal needs allowance, also called a PNA.

这笔钱被称为个人需求津贴，即PNA。

Nearly two-thirds of Americans living in nursing homes have their care paid for by Medicaid.

住在养老院的近三分之二的美国人的医疗费用是通过医疗补助计划支付的。

Medicaid is a health insurance program that is administered by the states.

医疗补助计划是一项由各州管理的医疗保险计划。

It is paid for equally by state governments and the federal government.

它由州政府和联邦政府均摊。

In exchange for the coverage², all retirement³ and other income people on Medicaid would receive is used to pay their nursing home costs.

为了换取保险，享受医疗补助的人将所有退休收入和其他收入都用于支付他们的养老院费用。

That means the only other money residents receive from the government is the PNA.

这意味着居民从政府那里获得的唯一其他资金是个人需求津贴。

The allowance is meant to pay for anything the nursing home does not provide.

这笔津贴是用来支付养老院不提供的其他东西的费用的。

This can include telephones, clothes or a birthday present for a grandchild.

其中包括电话、衣服或给孙子孙女的生日礼物。

In some states, the PNA can be only $30 a month and it cannot be higher than $200.

在一些州，个人需求津贴每月只有30美元，不能高于200美元。

"It's really one of the most humiliating things for them," said Sam Brooks⁴, a lawyer for The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care.

全国优质长期护理消费者之声的律师萨姆·布鲁克斯说：“对他们来说，这真的是最丢脸的事情之一”。

"It can really be a point of shame," he added.

他补充道：“这真的会让人感到羞愧”。

Medicaid is meant to pay health care costs for poor adults and children or those with other special needs.

医疗补助计划旨在为贫困的成年人和儿童或有其他特殊需求的人支付医疗费用。

Medicaid was created in 1965 along with Medicare, the federal government health insurance program for retired⁵ Americans.

医疗补助计划于1965年与联邦政府为美国退休人员提供的医疗保险计划一起创建。

In 1972, the U.S. Congress established the personal needs allowance, and set the lowest amount at $25.

1972年，美国国会设立了个人需求津贴，并将最低金额定为25美元。

Had the PNA been linked to inflation, it would be about $180 today.

如果个人需求津贴与通胀挂钩，如今的个人需求津贴应约为180美元。

Congress raised the minimum only once, to $30, in 1987.

美国国会只在1987年将最低金额提高至30美元。

The small allowance is difficult for nursing home residents who do not receive support from family or friends.

对于没有家人或朋友支持的养老院居民来说，这笔小额津贴很难拿到。

Marla Carter visits her mother-in-law at a nursing home in Owensboro, Kentucky.

玛拉·卡特在肯塔基州欧文斯伯勒的一家养老院看望她的婆婆。

She sees how poor some residents are.

她看到了一些居民有多穷。

With a $40 allowance, they are dressed in clothing that is the wrong size.

虽然领到了40美元的津贴，但是他们穿的衣服尺码却不合适。

Some have no socks or shoes.

有些人没有袜子和鞋子。

Basic supplies run low.

基本物资供应不足。

"That's what was so surprising to us," Carter said, "the poverty."

“让我们如此惊讶的原因是，”卡特说，“贫穷。”

She was so upset that she and her husband started a nonprofit, Faithful Friends Kentucky, to give out needed supplies to nursing home residents in the area,

她非常沮丧，于是她和丈夫创办了一家名为“肯塔基忠实的朋友”的非营利性组织，向该地区的养老院居民发放所需物资。

"You bring a soda⁶ or a toothbrush and they'll get so excited," she said. "It's so sad to me."

“即使你带来的是苏打水或牙刷，他们也会很兴奋，”她说。“这让我感到很难过。”

Several states have increased allowances.

有些州已经增加了津贴。

But most remain low.

但大多数州的津贴数额仍然很低。

The American Council on Aging, a non-profit group, says 28 states have allowances of $50 or less.

非营利组织美国老龄委员会表示，有28个州的津贴数额不超过50美元。

Five states give residents $100 or more each month, including Alaska, which offers $200 monthly.

有五个州每月给居民100美元或更多，其中包括阿拉斯加州，该州每月发放200美元。

Four states – Alabama, Illinois, North Carolina and South Carolina – remain at $30.

阿拉巴马州、伊利诺伊州、北卡罗来纳州和南卡罗来纳州这四个州的津贴数额仍为30美元。

Morisey, of Pennsylvania, entered a nursing home after a fall and, once here, learned his income would no longer be his.

宾夕法尼亚州的莫里西在跌倒后住进了一家养老院，一到这里，他就知道自己的收入将不再属于他。

Pennsylvania's allowance is $45, and after a monthly $20 haircut and $5 tip, it is difficult to decide what he should buy with the remaining $20.

宾夕法尼亚州的津贴数额是45美元，除去每月20美元的理发费和5美元的小费后，他很难决定用剩下的20美元买什么东西。

"It's the little things," he said.

他说：“这都是些小事”。

"You don't think about these things until you no longer have them."

“直到你不再拥有这些东西，你才会去想它们。”

His small savings⁷ are nearly gone now.

他微薄的积蓄现在几乎快用完了。

Without help from his church, he could not pay for a phone.

没有教会的帮助，他都付不起电话费。

I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Caty Weaver⁸.

安德鲁·史密斯、凯蒂·韦弗为您播报。