re: #446 lawhawk

And Medicaid. Yet, that’s one of the biggest components of spending at the state level in places like NY - and the state simply cannot afford its current levels of funding.

Why not? Could they afford it if they raised taxes?

It seems to me that the discussion about healthcare (and indeed all similar things such as education, public infrastructure, fire protection etc.) should go like this:

- What kind of service/coverage do we want/is acceptable?
- How much does it cost to provide it?
- How do we maximize utility by balancing spending on various items?

Maybe the answer is to raise taxes and pay for more healthcare and better roads? It seems that there is an unspoken assumption in your “the state can’t afford it” claim, which is that state revenues remain constant. This is not necessarily the case.