Explained: The Inflation Reduction Act

President Biden recently signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law.  The IRA is designed to reduce inflation, fight climate change, lower the cost of health care , and make the wealthiest pay their fair share. Here are some of the wins we secured in the bill: 

? The funding to fight climate change will create up to 9 million jobs in clean energy and reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent. The bill is also expected to reduce utility costs by $1,025 a year, on average, by improving energy efficiency. Finally, the IRA allocates almost $60 billion for environmental justice investments in communities disproportionately harmed by climate change and pollution!

?There are also a handful of provisions in the IRA to lower healthcare costs. Next year, for the first time ever, Medicare will be able to directly negotiate some prescription drug prices. For those with Medicare, the bill also caps insulin to $35 for a 30-day supply, and limits out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs to $2,000 per year. We also extended health care insurance subsidies for three years to reduce monthly health insurance premiums. These enhanced subsidies, which were set to expire at the end of year, were passed as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and they help lower the cost of health insurance for the nearly 13 million Americans who buy their health insurance on healthcare.gov.

?Finally, the IRA will ask the wealthy to finally pay their fair share by providing funding for the IRS to go after wealthy tax evaders, instituting a 15% minimum tax rate on the wealthiest corporations, and imposing a 1% tax on stock buybacks used to enrich wealthy shareholders. There are no new taxes on any family making $400,000 or less, and no new taxes on small businesses.