美國衛生部長：10月有10萬人加入奧巴馬醫保計劃
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says more than 100,000 Americans have chosen new health care plans through the so-called Obamacare program that opened for business October 1.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that as of early this month, 106,185 people had either purchased new health care plans or chosen new plans without yet paying for them. This is barely one-fifth of the nearly 500,000 people administration officials had projected would sign up in the first month of President Barack Obama's signature health care program.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney acknowledged Wednesday that the numbers fell well below expectations. Administration officials are hoping that several million people will sign up for plans before the March 31 registration deadline.美國衛生部說，10萬美國人已經通過新醫保法選擇了新的醫保計劃。新醫保法從10月1日開放醫保市場。
美國衛生部長西貝利厄斯星期三說，有106185人或已購買新醫保計劃，或已選定新醫保計劃，但尚未付費。美國政府官員曾經預計，在奧巴馬總統的新醫保方案實施的頭一個月內，會有將近50萬人加入新醫保計劃，而目前的投保人數只是這個數目的五分之一。
白宮新聞祕書卡尼星期三承認，目前的投保人數遠遠少於預期。美國政府官員希望，在明年3月1日的登記最後期限之前，登記投保人數將達數百萬。
