After Bragging About Her “Courage” to Undermine Health Coverage, Ernst Refuses to Come Clean on Lawsuit She Enabled
100 days and counting – that’s how long the third-most unpopular senator in the country Joni Ernst has sheltered in silence on her party’s lawsuit to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act.
Senator Ernst has spent years trying and failing to undermine the ACA through legislation. But since March 2, when the Supreme Court announced it would take up the case, Senator Ernst has refused to be honest with Iowans, saying “I’m not saying whether I support it or not.”
Senator Ernst’s complicity in the lawsuit to repeal the ACA comes after she cashed in over $500,000 from Big Pharma and the insurance industry, much of which stands to gain from the health law’s undoing. If the GOP’s effort is successful, it’ll be Iowans paying the price. The lawsuit could lead to discriminately higher premiums for the 1.3 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions, force rural hospitals to shut their doors, and slash open the ACA’s patch to the Medicare donut hole, which has saved Iowans $268 million in prescription drug costs.
“Senator Ernst is once again shamelessly putting her Big Pharma and insurance industry donors above the health and wellbeing of Iowans,” said Jeremy Busch, Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson. “The fact is, the Affordable Care Act is far more popular with voters than Senator Ernst is, and her career crusade to undermine Iowans’ critical health coverage is a monumental hurdle to her vulnerable re-election. Iowans deserve a senator who will deliver the truth, but voters already know the answer: it’s time for a new leader in Washington.”