Fuzzy Medicaid Math

How hypocritical and inconsistent it seems for the Bush administration to cut California’s Medicaid allocation because we have too many rich people. According to “Spiraling Medicaid Costs Putting States in a Bind” (Nov. 24), the revised federal Medicaid contribution formula looks at a state’s average income, so because we have so many inordinately wealthy people, their income offsets the extreme poverty of a much larger group. It’s as if the Bushies expected the rich to share their wealth (horrors!) or even pay more taxes (inconceivable!); otherwise, why factor their income into the equation?

Phyllis O’Connor

Long Beach