Seven years of conservative rule in Washington has made the problem worse. Nine million more Americans, 47 million total, are uninsured. Family health insurance premiums have risen 57%, while fewer businesses offer their employees coverage.

Instead of expanding coverage, conservatives blocked bipartisan legislation extending health care to 4 million uninsured children—twice. They lavished billions in subsidies on insurance companies, despite an astonishing 1,084% rise in insurance company profits during the last five years. And they continually sought to cut billions from Medicare and Medicaid.

Conservatives also have been looking out for the drug companies. Conservative congressman Billy Tauzin designed the law banning Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, sticking taxpayers with a huge bill. As soon as the law passed, he resigned and took a $2 million job as CEO for the drug lobby. But the fellow conservatives he left behind
in Congress continued to do his bidding. After a new Congress was elected in 2006, the conservative minority stifled efforts to let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices and to allow Americans to import affordable medications from Canada.

With the public demanding health care reform, conservatives can’t completely ignore the issue. But their proposals would make problems worse—encouraging employers to drop health care coverage and offering individuals the illusion that tax breaks would make health insurance affordable for their families.

The insurance companies and their supporters are pushing plans that have deductibles as high as $11,000. They would make us pay taxes on our employer-paid health benefits or offer us tax credits that pay only a fraction of our health insurance. Tax credits don’t guarantee health care.

Conservatives pretend to offer freedom, yet they have left too many Americans stuck with only bad health care choices.