In a news release issued today, Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Sam Page ripped the man who currently holds the office, Republican Peter Kinder and Blunt for the 2005 cuts:
According to estimates obtained from the Missouri Department of Social Services, Missouri now has turned away more than $1.86 billion in federal matching funds since Gov. Matt Blunt slashed the coverage of 400,000 Missourians.
The DSS estimates show that between fiscal years 2006 and 2009, the current fiscal year, Missouri has lost $1.86 billion in federal matching funds that the state would have received had the Blunt-Kinder administration not slashed Medicaid. Instead of providing health care to Missourians, however, those funds now are going to other states to pay for increased services for their citizens.
"We will never know the total price of the devastating Blunt-Kinder health care cuts because we can¹t count the suffering of our families and neighbors in dollars," said Rep. Sam Page, a medical doctor and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. "It is clear, however, that Matt Blunt and Peter Kinder have sent more than $1.8 billion of Missouri taxpayers' hard-earned money to other states to pay for their health care.
"We need those dollars right here. We need to fix the health care crisis Gov. Blunt and Lt. Gov. Kinder created. We need to restore those cuts and start moving Missouri in a direction that will provide access to affordable care for more children, families and seniors."
Besides the bloated 400,000 number we do know that it didn't cost the taxpayers $1 billion+ to provide healthcare to 90,000+ who didn't qualify for taxpayer provided healthcare but that democrat administrations let steal from the taxpayers. The other "slashes" were actually reductions in planned increases but then what does that matter?
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