Maybe we have more influence than we thought. At 3:08 p.m. on the very day our editorial criticized the Bush and Patrick administrations for dragging out negotiations about the renewal of the “1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver” supporting the Massachusetts health-insurance reform plan (“Get off the links,” Sept. 30), the Patrick administration announced an “agreement in principle” on a three-year extension worth $21.2 billion to the state.

We won’t claim cause-and-effect, and are glad about the settlement, assuming that the agreement in principle does not fall apart. It eases, though by no means does it cure, the budget shortfall that the Bay State faces in fiscal 2009.

But we will stand by the point we made when we said that the drawn-out negotiations did not “speak well of either the Bush or Patrick administrations.” It was a bit like the ballplayer who shows up for spring training with great fanfare just in time for the post-season playoffs. Count us glad for the Bay State taxpayer, but underwhelmed.