Matt Blunt Balances Budgets on Backs of 1% of Medicaid Recipients

Actually, in spite of his recent cuts, only 1% of those removed from Medicaid have officially protested:

The public outcry over Missouri's Medicaid cuts seemed significant - Capitol protests, critical editorials, frequent news conferences by advocates for the poor and disabled.

But officially, the Department of Social Services reports a mere whimper of objection.

Barely 1,000 Medicaid recipients have requested hearings to challenge their cuts, and just 424 have gone through with those hearings, according to department figures. That's fewer than 1 percent of the 142,000 people whose coverage was cut off or altered because of eligibility changes signed into law by Gov. Matt Blunt.

Perhaps the other 99% just dropped dead, but we at DMB2008 expect that they just made other arrangements, whether accepting charitable help or paying extra out of pocket. In either case, Matt Blunt certainly hasn't wasted the savings on a state office of corpse recovery and disposal.

However, we at DMB 2008 understand that certain segments the tax-spending populace fully favors the law of diminishing returns, so long as they receive the outlay with the lessened expectation of results.