Inflation Reduction Act

On Aug. 16, 2022, Pres. Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law. The IRA is a massive and historic win for working families and the country. It is also the capstone of two years of progress, from investments in states, cities, towns and schools to the lowest unemployment rate in fifty years. Key parts of the IRA include:

Lowering Health Care Costs – The Inflation Reduction Act will make prescription drugs cheaper for seniors by allowing the federal government to negotiate lower Medicare drug prices and penalizing prescription drug corporations for hiking drug prices in Medicare by more than the overall inflation rate. It also will cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors under Medicare Part D at $2,000 per year and limit their out-of-pocket insulin costs to no more than $35 per month. For people who buy individual health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, it will lower health insurance premiums. 

Tackling Climate Change and Improving Energy Security – The law makes historic investments in fighting climate change, improves our energy security and tackles the climate crisis by providing tax credits for and investments in energy projects, thereby creating thousands of new good union jobs and helping lower energy costs.

Requiring Corporations and the Wealthy to Begin to Pay Their Fair Share – The Inflation Reduction Act requires large corporations to pay a minimum 15% income tax and makes it harder for multinational corporations to avoid paying their fair share of US taxes. It also puts a 1% tax on corporate stock buy backs and boosts efforts to ensure corporations and the wealthiest in our society pay the taxes they owe, with no tax increases for families making under $400,000 a year.