VOA常速英语:ABLE Accounts Offer Financial Independence for People with Disabilities(翻译)

Like most teenage boys, Ethan Pedlikin likes sports and computers.But because he has Down syndrome, he faces a barrier that many of his friends most likely never will.
十几岁的男孩子都喜欢运动和电脑游戏，伊森帕德里金也不例外。由于他患有唐氏综合症，生活中面临的障碍是许多朋友可能一辈子也体会不到的。

He was born with disability, and has to face some barriers, important barriers to access to healthy services.
他是先天性残疾，生活中不免有许多障碍，在接受健康服务时更是如此。

One billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. Of those billion, just half can afford adequate healthcare.And those in the U.S. who need government assistance like Medicaidcan‘t have more than 2000 dollars at their bank account to remain eligible.
如今，世界上约有十亿形形色色的残障人士。其中仅有一半的人有足够的资金支付医疗服务费用。在美国，想要申请公共医疗补助之类的政府援助的人，必须保证银行账户上的存款低于2000美元。

I was told explicitly I needed to get rid of the $900 above $2,000 sitting in my son’s account, the absurdity of that is obvious.
我被明确告知，要花掉儿子账户里2000美元之外的那900美元才能申请援助。真是荒唐至极。

So Ethan’s father Phil Pedlikin and four other parents decided to take action by building on an idea proposed by one of them.
因此，伊森的父亲菲尔帕德里金联合四位其他人的父母，采纳了其中一人的意见，准备采取行动。

He said, I have two daughters, one who has Down syndrome and one who does not.And the one who does not have Down syndrome I can save all the money in the world for her. But for my daughter with Down syndrome,I can’t because of medicate social security regulations and that’s backwards. And we should do something about it.
他说自己有两个女儿，其中一位患有唐氏综合症，另一位很健康。自己可以竭尽全力的为这位健康的女儿省钱，而对于患病的那位，则大相径庭。这一切都归因于目前落后的医疗社会保障体制。我们必须要对此采取行动。

So for eight years, the parents came here to Capital Hill to get congressional support.Their bill will allow people with disabilities to set aside money and a savings account for their living expenses.But to their surprise, bipartisan support came easy.
因此这八年来，这些父母陆续来到国会山，寻求国会支持。他们提议残障人士有权力在储蓄账户上存储一定的生活费。只是他们没想到自己这么快便心想事成。

There were several times when other members of congress looked into this we were gettingand said I’ve never seen a bill that has that combination of people.
其他的国会议员曾多次研究我们提出的方案，并称他们从未收到过涉及到该群体的提案。

ABLE accounts became law in 2014. The accounts allow people with disabilities to set aside extra money for housing,health, transportation and other necessary expenses without losing eligibility for government assistance.Pedlikin says this is a savings opportunity everyone should take advantage of.
ABLE账户在2014年通过法律审核。该账户保障残疾人在为住房，卫生，交通和其他必要的生活开支存款的同时，依然有资格申请政府援助。帕得里金称，如今大家都应该抓住这个机遇，开源节流。

People who don’t have a lot of money need to still figure out how to put something away and let it compound and grow. Because it will.
即使是那些资金不是很充裕的人也应该尽力存款，让自己的资金增值。

Health officials say this will help people with disabilities better participate in the economy.
卫生官员称，此举可以更好的保障那些残障人士参与经济生活。

You not include the people with disabilities in the general development of the country, you are excluding an important sector of the population.
若国家整体的发展规划没有保障残障人士的参与，便是将一部分非常重要的人拒之门外。

A newfound independence can help people like Ethan achieve a better life experience.
这项别开生面的措施使得像伊森一样的人们生活变得更加美好。