To the Editor:
Regarding Harvey Wenick's letter on the cost of jobs added by accepting expanding Medicaid coverage, an important factor was left out of his back-of-the-envelope calculations. The employed workers would be spending their earnings, creating additional jobs and so on and so on. This effect, called a multiplier, is behind many programs that transfer funds that are immediately spent. Hence, the benefits from food stamps greatly exceed the dollar amount of the benefit. Notable, however, is that a benefit paid (or tax cut) to a wealthy person, who has no need to immediately spend it, won't have that multiplier effect, although there might be some benefit from investment down the road. And let's also not downplay the benefit of formerly sick people being able to work and pay taxes. Sometimes letter writers skip over important details in their eagerness to make their point — I'd hope the editors would do a better job of screening such misrepresentations.
Allen Irwin, Alexandria