LETTER: The poor, health care and iPhones

In response to the story by the Washington Post’s Brian Fung (“The luxury of saying poor don’t need phones”) that appeared in the Review-Journal’s Sunday Business section:

No matter how I crunch the numbers, I still can’t justify ‘budgeting’ an iPhone/data plan/apps/loss/damage/theft into a rational budget for an impoverished citizen. Yes, Mr. Fung is correct in pointing out that cutting smartphone expenses will not be enough to pay for health care. But that is not the point. Some contribution to the health-care system is warranted.

Rep. Jacob Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who was criticized for saying that some Americans should spend money on health care rather than iPhones, was trying to point out that financial choices and habits have a collective and cumulative impact (smartphone, flat-screen TV, cable, and nonessential extravagances now rebranded as “essentials”). The poor already get free phones and service.

There are smarter ways to manage a limited budget: dumb phones and $25 to $45 month internet access, for example.