As a proud conservative Texan, I know we deserve better than Obamacare. Healthcare decisions should be made by you and your doctor, not by Washington, D.C. bureaucrats!

Obamacare is a flawed and failed policy that has increased premiums, raised taxes, and cut the incomes of millions of Americans. I have voted nearly 70 times to repeal and dismantle this ill-conceived, disastrous healthcare law. In fact, Republicans in the House and Senate were successful in voting to repeal Obamacare earlier this year, yet the President vetoed the bill, protecting his signature legislation ahead of protecting the wallets and well-being of Americans. 

Under the leadership of Speaker Paul Ryan, House Republicans have developed a new approach to health care – a Better Way.  This free market, consumer friendly plan encourages innovation, competition, and allows all Americans more choices. It also lowers costs and provides greater flexibility when choosing health care coverage.

Rather than having Washington bureaucrats make decisions for Americans, under the House Republican Better Way health care plan, we will fully repeal Obamacare, restore the doctor-patient relationship, and leave the decision-making in the hands of doctors, patients, and families. Our plan provides individuals with the freedom to choose a policy that best fits their needs. 

Americans deserve quality health care at affordable prices, but instead Obamacare does the opposite, raising insurance costs for the majority of Americans and small businesses. Our Better Way plan contains no new mandates, and encourages free market innovation to provide Americans with low-cost, personalized health insurance. Our plan will spur innovation, make coverage portable, and allow for pre-existing condition protections.

Too often under Obamacare, small business and individuals are placed at a disadvantage, unable to afford health insurance because of the marketplace’s high costs. Our plan will expand opportunities for small businesses to work together to offer association health plans, and for individuals to collaborate to purchase health care coverage through individual health pools. This expanded opportunity for pooling drives insurance costs down, and increases the number of patients with health coverage.

Congress has an obligation to secure the benefits seniors have earned through years of hard work and I’m proud that the Better Way plan reforms, preserves, and protects Medicare. It combines Medicare parts A and B to lower costs for seniors, and will repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a 15-member board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats, who were established to oversee Medicaid spending.

Without Republicans leading the charge, we will continue to see the expansion and preservation of Obamacare. We will continue to feel its costs to the job market, and the burden of its onerous taxes.

Obamacare is a constant reminder of why it is imperative to elect Republicans to the House, Senate, and White House.  This November, we must support all Republicans on the ballot, so that together we may reduce the economic burden on Americans and provide the best health care in the world.

In the end, the answer isn’t more government. What we need is smart, responsible, market based healthcare reform.  I will continue to fight for better health care for all Americans, and to keep Washington out of Texans’ health care decisions.

Rep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the premier Army military installation in the free world. He serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, is on the Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice and Science and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and is co-chair of the House Army Caucus.

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