In the Nov. 16 Tribune, state Sen. Jacob Anderegg (R-Lehi) decries our voters choosing Medicaid expansion as putting Utah on “the fast road to bankruptcy.”
Fear rhetoric.
For those not traumatized by simple math, there is a lot of comfort in a few numbers. The federal government (i.e. “We the people”) will invest $800 million each year into Utah’s health care economy. This amount is very similar to the $814 million that the feds already invest each year into Utah’s economy at Hill Air Force Base. We know that the Hill investment leads to 27,000 jobs, a $3.26 billion stimulus, and a windfall of $163 million returned to the state in sales and income taxes.
The federal investment in Medicaid expansion will thus lead to $3.2 billion in increased economic activity, and $160 million in windfall taxes returned to our state coffers. This is in addition to the $90 million returned from the small sales tax increase written into Prop 3. So (warning: simple math here) the state will reap $250 million in increased tax revenues as an exorbitant return on our $79 million investment in Medicaid. Have comfort, Senator. And, yes, the voters’ voice in this is “sacrosanct.”
William E. Cosgrove, Cottonwood Heights