Tillis first casualty of Republicans' Medicaid cuts, Brunswick Beacon

Brunswick Beacon, 07.10.25

Trump’s Budget Buster Bomb adds $3.3 trillion in debt, gives the richest 0.1% a $314,000 tax cut, slashes $1 trillion from Medicaid, $490 million from Medicare and strips health insurance from 17 million Americans, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

The Commonwealth Fund projects 888,000 lost jobs, including 477,000 healthcare providers. Rural hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and nursing homes will close, cutting healthcare options and hiking costs even for those with private insurance. Another 411,000 jobs will vanish as the economic contraction affects other industries, like retail, construction, and manufacturing.

Republicans’ Medicaid cuts will hit rural communities like Brunswick County hardest. Georgetown University reports that rural residents depend on Medicaid for healthcare insurance more than city dwellers. 

Missouri Highlands Healthcare is the only provider in a three-to-four-hour radius. Administrator Karen White said, “we will see loss of life” because Republicans’ cuts will force them to choose which patients to treat. White added, “It does seem odd that the folks that elected Republicans will be the ones that are impacted the most with these cuts.”

In a closed-door Republican meeting, Sen. Tillis said NC would lose $38.9 billion in federal funding and 663,000 North Carolinians will lose health insurance. Sen. McConnell said people worried about Medicaid cuts will “get over it.”

Tillis warned it will “cost us majorities in both houses” of Congress, adding, “If Republicans proceed on this, you won’t have a member from North Carolina sitting at this table after next year.” 

Certainly not Tillis. When Tillis voted “NO,” Trump vowed to primary him. Tillis announced he would not seek reelection and blasted “elected officials who really don’t give a damn about the people they promised to represent.” Tillis asked, “What do I tell 663,000 people in two or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off Medicaid?” As Flounder said in “Animal House,” tell them: “You [messed] up. You trusted us!”

Arthur Hill

Southport