Hospitals save lives. Now here’s how they can save Medicaid and Medicare.

In addition to Medicaid cuts, even Medicare cuts are on the table as Congress debates the healthcarespending provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget bill. The Congressional Budget Office projected that this bill would actually increase the U.S. budget deficit by $2.4 trillion over a decade — with 10.9 million more Americans not having health insurance.

Are these budget cuts to Medicaid and Medicare really necessary, or can they be avoided? We have to look first at the root cause of the proposed cuts. What brought the U.S. to this point? What are the pros and cons of any Medicaid and Medicare cuts?