Blunt seeks big cut in Medicaid spending
By Virginia Young
Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau
Wednesday, Jan. 26 2005
JEFFERSON CITY - Saying Missouri has "put off the tough decisions for too
long," Gov. Matt Blunt proposed Wednesday that the state slash Medicaid
coverage for the poor, shutter 11 motor vehicle licensing offices and ax 1,018
mental health jobs.
In a prime-time address to the Legislature, the governor said the cuts were
needed to balance the state's $19.2 billion operating budget without increasing
taxes.
Keeping a campaign promise, Blunt proposed a 4.7 percent increase in funding
for public schools. That would pump an additional $170.6 million into
elementary and secondary education.
But in a turnaround from statements he made during the campaign, Blunt proposed
throwing thousands of people off the Medicaid rolls. The state-federal program
provides health care for the disabled, the blind, some elderly people and
low-income families with children.
Blunt would lower the income threshold for parents to qualify. Instead of 75
percent of the federal poverty level, parents could earn no more than 30
percent - for example, about $4,701 a year for a family of three.
Also cut would be adults who are considered medically unemployable but haven't
yet qualified as disabled. They often rely on the special coverage while they
await federal decisions on whether they are disabled.
The governor would eliminate podiatry, dental care and rehabilitation services
for adults. Also, some services would be subject to small co-payments and
deductibles.
In all, the Medicaid cuts would save a whopping $626 million in state and
federal funds. But even with the cuts, Blunt said, the $5.3 billion program
would consume 26 percent of the total state budget, a larger share of the
budget than Medicaid costs in all but 14 states.
"Without reform, Missouri will spend a larger percentage of our total budget on
Medicaid than all but one other state," he said.
Last year, a more modest House plan - taking the threshold to 50 percent - drew
intense opposition from critics, who said it would hurt single parents working
minimum-wage jobs. It would have lopped off an estimated 39,000 parents.
Blunt's budget office said it could not estimate how many people the new
proposal would affect. Exempt from the cuts would be coverage for children and
pregnant women, areas that Blunt called "responsible uses of taxpayer dollars."
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