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Before our current service for President Donald Trump as his vice president and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, we worked together at the state level: as governor of Indiana and as an adviser to the state on health care issues and Medicaid.

Our experience on health care at the state level taught us a clear lesson for policymaking in Washington: One size does not fit all.

Unfortunately, that is what Obamacare imposes across our entire country, and the results, particularly in Louisiana, are disastrous.

Earlier this year, President Trump predicted Obamacare will explode and have a very bad year.

He was correct.

Just look at the facts in Louisiana. President Obama promised Obamacare would cut premiums by $2,500 for the average family, yet since 2013, the average price of a plan on Louisianas individual insurance market has risen $3,648. From 2016 to 2017, the price of the standard Obamacare plan shot up by 17 percent.

Last year, 59 out of Louisianas 64 parishes had just one or two companies offering insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. Then in February, the insurer Humana announced that it is pulling out of the exchanges in Louisiana and across the entire country.

Speaking of national ramifications, Americas largest health insurer, Aetna, recently announced that it is leaving the laws exchanges entirely as well. Every other major insurer has expressed serious concerns about the viability of the exchanges. In the states where insurers have begun to propose rates for 2018, double-digit increases are the norm.

As President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress earlier this year, we must repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and, at the same time, provide better health care.

That is what the bill passed this month by the House of Representatives does, and the Senate would do well to follow suit.

The principles for health reform that undergird the House bill would reverse the mistakes of Obamacare and set us on the path toward a state-led, patient-centered health care system.

The top priority is repealing Obamacares individual and employer mandate penalties, which force Americans and businesses to buy pricey Washington, D.C.-approved coverage. As President Trump has promised, we should provide a refundable tax credit for Americans who buy insurance on their own to buy coverage that works for them, rather than a plan that Washington dictates. Meanwhile, Obamacares hundreds of billions of dollars in crushing taxes on health insurance, investment, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, medical devices, and more have to go.

It is also important to undo the deep cuts Obamacare is scheduled to make to hospitals that serve underprivileged populations, and protect conscience and life by redirecting federal funding from abortion providers to community health clinics.

Another priority is resetting the federal-state partnership that funds Medicaid. From our experience working together on Medicaid in Indiana, we know flexibility and reform are necessary to help the program focus on serving the most vulnerable.

Any bill passed by Congress ought to live up to President Trumps promise to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, as the House-passed bill does. The approach taken by the House bill is innovative and state- and patient-centered: States that believe Obamacares existing thicket of regulations is sustainable can leave that system in place. But if states show they can do a better job of improving choices and lowering costs via more flexible regulations and well-funded high risk pools, they can do that instead.

In a country of more than 300 million people, we should not just tolerate this kind of state-level innovation we should welcome it. In just the first few months of this administration, President Trump has taken steps to encourage state-level innovation in Medicaid and in health care systems to alleviate some of Obamacares burdens. But truly unleashing state innovation requires passing a new law.

The Republican principles embodied in the Houses bill are not the only things we need to fix Americas health care system. But they would be a huge step toward a system that is finally patient-centered and lets states take the lead on ensuring patients have access to high-quality, affordable, innovative care.

The Senate has a huge opportunity before it.

We look forward to working with senators to deliver on President Trumps vision for real reform and a health care system in America that actually works.

Mike Pence is vice president of the United States. Seema Verma is administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. They are slated to visit Louisiana today.

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Mike Pence, health official: One-size-fits-all Obamacare a failing prescription for Louisiana - The Advocate