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America’s messy vaccine mandate On Tuesday two federal covid-19 vaccine mandates come into force. Each of the about 84m Americans who work for a company with more than 100 employees will have to get jabbed or submit to weekly testing and face-coverings. So will federal-government employees. Separately, 17m health-care workers in facilities receiving funding from Medicare or Medicaid, two of America’s federal health-care schemes, must also be vaccinated. The mandates are controversial. Businesses, religious groups and conservative state governments have all objected, claiming that the mandates are examples of executive overreach, and that such a heavy-handed response will hurt the economy. The Biden administration has decided to postpone enforcement until after the Supreme Court weighs in on Friday on legal challenges against the mandates. But even if the legal challenges against them are dismissed, the mandates might face yet more opposition on the ground when attempts are made to enforce them. America’s messy vaccine mandate 美国混乱的疫苗规定 On Tuesday two federal covid-19 vaccine mandates come into force. Each of the about 84m Americans who work for a company with more than 100 employees will have to get jabbed or submit to weekly testing and face-coverings. So will federal-government employees. Separately, 17m health-care workers in facilities receiving funding from Medicare or Medicaid, two of America’s federal health-care schemes, must also be vaccinated. 周二，两项新冠疫苗规定生效。在员工数超过100人以上的公司工作的美国人，大约有8400万，都必须接种疫苗或每周接受检测并配戴口罩。联邦政府员工也是如此。另外，接受美国两项联邦医疗保健计划 — 医疗保险（Medicare）或医疗补助（Medicaid）— 资助的1700万医护人员也必须接种疫苗。
王不留(wbliu85)注： 美国的医疗保险制度大体可以分为公共医疗保险和私人医疗保险两大类型。美国的公共医疗保险制度主要包括以下项目，其中最重要、惠及面最广的是Medicare和Medicaid。 1. 老年和残障健康保险（Medicare） 医疗保险（Medicare）是美国最早的一项医疗保险制度，依据1965年的社会保障修正案建立，由美国联邦政府开办，其服务对象是65岁以上的老人或者符合一定条件的65岁以下的残疾人或晚期肾病患者。 2. 医疗补助（Medicaid） 医疗补助是针对低收入群体的医疗健康保障项目，服务对象是低收入的父母、老人、儿童及残障人士。该项目由美国联邦政府和各州政府共同资助，联邦政府提供一部分项目经费，具体运作由各州负责管理，CMS中心对各州该项目的执行进行监督。 Medicare常称为“美国红蓝卡”；Medicaid 常称为“美国白卡”。 3. 儿童健康保险项目（CHIP） 儿童健康保险项目（Children's Health Insurance Program，简称CHIP），之前一直被称为State Children's Health Insurance Program（简称SCHIP）。 该项目由《1997年平衡预算法》确定，以联邦政府提供项目配套资金的形式，向美国各州的中低收入家庭的儿童提供健康保险。这类家庭的收入没有低到可以享受医疗补助，但是又没有高到可以买得起商业保险。 The mandates are controversial. Businesses, religious groups and conservative state governments have all objected, claiming that the mandates are examples of executive overreach, and that such a heavy-handed response will hurt the economy. The Biden administration has decided to postpone enforcement until after the Supreme Court weighs in on Friday on legal challenges against the mandates. But even if the legal challenges against them are dismissed, the mandates might face yet more opposition on the ground when attempts are made to enforce them. 这些强制规定存在争议。企业、宗教团体和保守的州政府都表示反对，声称强制规定是行政干预过度，如此严厉的反应将会损害经济。拜登政府已决定推迟执行，直到最高法院周五针对这些强制规定的法律挑战进行权衡。但即使针对强制规定的法律挑战被驳回，当（政府）尝试强制执行时，这些强制规定可能还会面临更多的反对声音。
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