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As Republicans and Democrats wage war over the prospect of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as Obamacare), we are running out of time to implement a more freeform healthcare system.

As has become standard in the increasingly divided United States political scene, both sides of the debate are sure that they are right—and sure the other side is trying to destroy lives and ruin our country’s healthcare industry. Republicans argue that the ACA is flawed and could be improved with an alternative bill. Democrats argue that, despite the ACA’s imperfections, repealing or replacing it would kick millions of people off health insurance and put their lives at risk.

I have been very public with my view that the true problem with healthcare in the United States right now is not being addressed by either side of the political argument. The problem—the lack of anything resembling a free market in the health insurance industry—leaves the market without meaningful buyer-seller relationships and with no opportunity for supply and demand to fix skyrocketing costs.

The Problems Facing Modern American Healthcare

One critical area to consider is how our country and our government currently handles health insurance providers. Earlier this year, one of the biggest talking points in the healthcare debate was about how many insurance companies were pulling out of the ACA entirely. This piece from The Atlantic gives a brief overview of what happened in a few states, from Iowa (where ACA exchange shoppers were left with only one insurance provider to choose from) to Tennessee (where residents were temporarily left with no ACA insurance options).

The situations described in the Atlantic piece illustrate what are arguably the two biggest problems in health insurance right now. First off, when people shopping the ACA exchange only have one health insurance option to choose from in their states, it essentially creates a government-granted monopoly. Monopolies, of course, are dangerous because they have full control over pricing. Without competition to keep prices down, ACA’s exchanges risk becoming the very opposite of affordable.

Secondly, when some states have no health insurance options to choose from in their Obamacare exchanges, that illustrates the grave need for interstate competition in the healthcare industry. In February, the health insurance provider Humana pulled out of Tennessee’s ACA exchange—the last insurer to do so. It wasn’t until May that BlueCross BlueShield agreed to fill the void, and even then, the company only agreed to be a part of Tennessee’s exchange under certain conditions. In the intervening three months, Tennesseans trying to buy health insurance via their state’s Obamacare exchange were essentially out of luck. (The Atlantic article reports that Humana’s withdrawal left 40,000 people with no health insurance option.)