Dr. Ben Carson tells Newsmax that the only reason people are signing up for Obamacare as the new open enrollment period begins is that there is no good alternative.
"I wonder how many of those people would sign up if they had another good alternative?" Carson, author, former pediatric neurosurgeon, and potential presidential candidate asked J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV on Monday.
Health and Human Services Secretary
Sylvia Matthews Burwell expressed optimism Sunday about the number of people she predicts will sign up for Obamacare as the new healthcare law begins its second year.
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"Basically what they're doing is creating a situation where people have fewer and fewer options and ultimately everybody gets funneled into one massive plan," he explained.
"What we should be doing is offering some very excellent alternatives," he said.
"I've been talking to a number of people around the country, both in Congress and outside of Congress, and there are some very, very excellent proposals, and you'll be seeing those," he added.
Carson contends it's crucial that Republicans are able to offer good alternatives if they are serious about repealing the controversial healthcare law.
"Those [alternatives] need to be talked about in a big way and made quite public certainly before any talk about defunding or repealing Obamacare," he explained.
"When you put something out there, it needs to be something people want, something that people actually understand, not something that you have to force people into," he said.
"That's not the way America's supposed to work," he added.
On the contrary, Carson says that "when people see a very good alternative that costs them less, that actually allows them to control their own healthcare along with their healthcare providers, and doesn't create a two-tiered system where some people are desired and some people are not, they will flock to it."
Dr. Martin Salia, who contracted the Ebola virus while treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, died Monday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he was being treated in the bio-containment unit.
Carson, who worked as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital before he retired in 2013, said Salia's death is a reminder that the Ebola virus is a "very, very dangerous disease."
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"This was a man who lived in Maryland with his family, Americanized, was doing humanitarian service, and obviously contracted a horrible disease," Carson said.
"I'm sure he was well versed in the preventive measures to take with Ebola, but he still got it," he said.
"Hopefully, bringing him here will not result in anybody else catching it," Carson added.
As President Barack Obama threatens to bring about immigration reform through executive action, Carson tells Newsmax the president needs to learn he's not supposed to be a dictator.
Carson contends that Republicans shouldn't "rule anything out" that may need to be done to stop Obama's executive actions.
"Perhaps the first step might be maybe they could send the president some tutorials on how the government works," he explained.
"Also, help him to understand that the government is supposed to respond to the needs of the people and conform to the will of the people, not to be a dictator," he said.
As for the question of whether or not Congress should be willing to use a government shutdown, he says it doesn't necessarily need to be "a full shutdown of government."
"It can be selective," he explained. "Congress should look at those things that would be most detrimental specifically to the executive branch, but not to the general American populace."
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