Since its passage, I have consistently said that repealing ObamaCare is the first thing we have to do to ensure quality, affordable healthcare for every American. In 2013, I was in an argument on TV in which I once again said, “I think Obamacare remains an abomination.” As part of that argument, I also said that I would agree with the conservative Heritage Foundation’s catastrophic coverage mandate as part of a plan that would ensure those with preexisting conditions could be covered. Since then, conservative health care experts have come up with significantly better alternatives to ObamaCare, including Representative Price’s and Governor Walker’s, just to name a couple. To be clear, I believe that we must find a way to cover people with pre-existing conditions–but I do not believe we need a mandate of any kind to do that.

As with many of our nation’s festering problems, the issue has never been a lack of good, conservative ideas. We know what we need to do to solve this problem. First and foremost, we have to repeal ObamaCare. Then we have to replace it with a plan that protects those with pre-existing conditions in state-run high-risk pools, reduces costs, protects religious liberty and moves us closer to the one thing we’ve never tried before in health insurance: real competition.