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By MADISON HIRNEISENTHE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – A sweeping tax, climate and health care bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Sunday won praise from both of California’s senators as it now advances to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, includes $740 billion in new spending that aims to curb the impacts of climate change and would allow the government to control the price of prescription medications, as reported by The Center Square. No Republicans voted for the bill in the 50-50 Senate, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the bill later this week.
The bill includes billions of spending that aims to lower the costs of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, address drought resiliency, support clean energy projects and incentivize consumers to switch to electric appliances in their homes. The bill also includes a minimum 15% corporate tax rate for some of the nation’s largest corporations.
Specifically, the bill would cap out-of-pocket health care costs at $2,000 a year for California’s 6.5 million Medicare beneficiaries and cap insulin at $35 a month for those enrolled in Medicare, according to a fact sheet from the office of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California. Additionally, the bill requires Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices annually starting in 2023, a measure federal lawmakers say will help lower prescription drug prices for those enrolled in Medicare.
“The Inflation Reduction Act will bring down the cost of life-saving medications, because no one should have to choose between affording health care or paying their rent or mortgage,” Sen. Padilla said in a statement Sunday.
The bill also extends federal health care subsidies enacted during the pandemic, which Sen. Padilla’s office estimates has helped 1.8 million Californians retain and access insurance coverage.
“Without an extension of these premium subsidies, an estimated 220,000 Californians could be priced out of coverage, and nearly one million low-income Californians would see their premium costs double,” according to Sen. Padilla’s office.
The bill also includes nearly $13 billion to fund drought resiliency, wildfire prevention and habitat restoration, which includes $4 billion in drought funding to compensate farmers who reduce water usage, according to the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California.
There’s also more than $40 billion in tax credits included to build new facilities for clean technology and “accelerate the domestic production of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and critical minerals processing,” according to Sen. Padilla’s office.
Sen. Feinstein called the bill a “huge win for American families” in a statement on Sunday. Sen. Feinstein’s Affordable EV’s for Working Families Act is included in the bill, which would allow a tax credit of up to $4,000 for certain eligible individuals who buy a used electric vehicle, according to her office.
“This is the most significant climate change bill the Senate has ever considered,” Sen. Feinstein said. “It will promote domestic clean energy manufacturing to create jobs at home while significantly reducing greenhouse gas pollution, both of which have long been priorities for me.”
The House is expected to consider the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday.
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