This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In the past, Utah governors and the Legislature have offered multiple tax breaks for corporations willing to settle in Utah with the promise of hiring employees. Now comes the federal government, offering millions of dollars and the possibility of numerous ongoing jobs, creating a new taxable base of income to our Utah coffers.
All we have to do is expand Medicaid and hire people to manage the influx of our low wage earners as they apply and receive insurance for the first time. Think of what the jobs (and newly generated taxes) could do for improving our air quality so those insured under a newly expanded Medicaid system would not need to seek treatment in our emergency rooms.
It only makes sense: increased insurance coverage for our least financially fortunate, more jobs available to handle the increase, leading to more taxable income, leading to more available funding to clean our air, leading to fewer emergency room visits and a lower burden on state and hospital costs.
Who loses here?
Carolyn Sanders
Holladay