'Deadly' GOP 'cuts' don't even touch Medicaid's 50% growth since 2019

As the Senate takes up the House-passed Big Beautiful Bill , the No. 1 hitch is a dispute between fiscal hawks and Medicaid doves — that is, senators who say it doesn’t cut enough federal spending vs. those who claim it cuts “too much” from Medicaid.

That latter crew includes a few Republicans — and pretty much all Democrats, who keep talking about “millions losing their health insurance” with literally deadly consequences.

The hawks are a lot closer to reality here: The GOP bill doesn’t actually even cut Medicaid, it just slightly slows its growth in years to come, even though Medicaid spending has exploded since 2019.

Federal Medicaid outlays since 2019.

Per the Congressional Budget Office, federal outlays on the program have been positively soaring, from $409 billion in 2019