Jeff Sanders: Sun-Star should have caught such a basic math error
The Sun-Star published a letter (“Make them follow Medicare rules,” Oct. 28) from an Atwater writer which seemed to be entirely based on a math error. The writer divided 7 billion in Obamacare funding by 6 million recipients and incorrectly reported that each recipient cost the system $11.6 million. This was followed by two long paragraphs railing against waste, pork, fraud, and the involvement of bureaucrats and politicians. The correct result of dividing $7 billion by 6 million recipients is $1,167. That’s a little more than one thousand dollars per recipient, which doesn’t at all support the writer’s following conclusions and criticisms. The Sun-Star should have caught such a gross math error and included the correct figure in an editorial comment.
Jeff Sanders, Merced
Editor’s note: The writer is correct.
This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Jeff Sanders: Sun-Star should have caught such a basic math error."