美国卫生部长：10月有10万人加入奥巴马医保计划

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.

美国卫生部长西贝利厄斯星期三说，有106185人或已购买新医保计划，或已选定新医保计划，但尚未付费。美国政府官员曾经预计，在奥巴马总统的新医保方案实施的头一个月内，会有将近50万人加入新医保计划，而目前的投保人数只是这个数目的五分之一。

白宫新闻秘书卡尼星期三承认，目前的投保人数远远少于预期。美国政府官员希望，在明年3月1日的登记最后期限之前，登记投保人数将达数百万。