Clip of Joni Ernst Laying Out the ‘Heartbreaking’ Costs of High Insulin Prices in 2020 Goes Viral After She Voted Down a Price Cap

Senate Republicans blocked Democrats on Sunday from including a cap on insulin in their sweeping Inflation Reduction Act legislation.

The proposed provision of the bill would have capped the price of insulin for those on Medicare and with private coverage at $35.

The insulin cap was taken out of the original bill, which was passed by reconciliation on Sunday, but the Senate parliamentarian who said “that extending the cap to the private market was not compliant with the rules of the reconciliation process,” according to CNN.

Democrats attempted to keep the cap in the bill regardless, but Republicans raised a point of order, which forced a vote on the cap. In the end, only seven Republicans voted in favor of the wildly popular proposal. The cap was defeated 57-43, despite many GOP Senators campaigning on lower drug prices, including Iowa’s Joni Ernst (R-IA) who once gave an impassioned speech on the topic.

In 2020, @SenJoniErnst warned about the “heartbreaking” consequences of high insulin costs and called on lawmakers to “come together” to lower them.

Ernst voted against the insulin copay cap today. pic.twitter.com/AY2RzCWJQ0

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) August 7, 2022

“The skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs has become a matter of life and death for so many,” said Ernst on the Senate floor in 2020.

“We’ve heard the heartbreaking stories of individuals who could not afford their insulin and were forced to ration and skip doses, and as a result, they lost their lives,” Ernst, who voted against the cap, continued.

“I remember quite vividly a conversation I had with an Iowa mother explaining how she lost her son, who as a young man was rationing his insulin because he could not afford to do more,” she continued, adding:

It was a heartbreaking discussion and having that discussion with that mother, I could not help but think then of my own brother and sister. Who have been reliant on insulin as juvenile diabetics for nearly all of their lives. When we talk about the cost of prescription drugs for folks, lives are literally on the line.

“And Iowans have been very clear with me where they stand on this issue. They want to see us come together to advance solutions that drive down those drug prices,” she concluded in a clip, which was resurfaced after her vote against the cap and has since gone viral on social media.

Only 3 more GOP Senators need to vote yes on the measure to pass the cap.

Watch the full clip above