President Biden Signing of the Inflation Reduction Act today comes
after more than a year of negotiations among Democrats in Congress
and the White House. And it caps off a summer of legislative successes
to bring us up to speed. We turn to our own Lisa Desjardin. So, Lisa
hello, and this is legislation that has seen quite a journey. Tell
us what finally is mainly in it.
Right. There's a lot to say here first. It's a noteworthy fact. I
looked through the last century of what Congress has, and has not
passed. And Judy. This summer's activity for this Congress is unique.
In fact, we have not. I have to say it's really unprecedented in
this century to see so much past a substantive legislation policy
changing legislation in a midterm year, so I want to quickly go over
what I'm talking about What just happened this summer, All of it
sometimes in a flash, but
Remind people of what Democrats passed in Congress First, this act
that was signed today, the inflation Reduction Act Now the size of
that depends on whether or not you count the deficit reduction portion
of that act, but somewhere between half a trillion and $700 billion
Now we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a second,
but also just this month, the Senate and House passed the pact Act.
We've reported on that extensively, which extends veteransbenefits,
especially for those with toxic exposures. That's $300 billion about
Then the chips Act or chips Plus, which is a enormous bill that includes
a host of science and technology incentives to try and help this
country compete with China. Another $80 billion is a size of that
bill. And don't forget in May that unexpected compromise over gun
and safety laws that bipartisan, safer Communities act.
$13 billion in that, But mainly that is a real sea change the first
time in decades that Congress has passed significant gun legislation.
Now I want to point out something about three of these bills. The
three there on the right of your screen. Those were all bipartisan,
and the way that the Democrats got those through largely was by allowing
senators outside of leadership to negotiate amongst themselves first.
But then let's talk about the other one. The inflation reduction
act that is the largest of these bills and obviously something we're
going to be hearing a lot about this summer. How did that go through?
Well, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer kept his negotiations with
Joe Manchin quiet. He allowed Republicans to vote and support some
of these bipartisan bills and then sort of announced after all of
that was done that they had to deal with Joe Manchin. That is something
that Democrats are calling a victory over Senate Republican leader
Mitch McConnell. Someone who is
Hard to out strategize.
Republicans, for their part, say no, this is Democrats just able
to unify Democrats have the votes. And of course, Republicans don't
like that inflation reduction bill. They say that it actually could
cause problems for businesses in the taxes that it puts out. But
the bigger point you to here is in a midterm year like this, you
just sometimes don't see any significant legislation. I could only
find a couple of examples this century. The Dodd Frank Act, McCain
Feingold.
But those were just one bill. This Congress managed to pass four
in a midterm year and thank you. I'm so glad it's so important to
have that background to put this in context. Lisa, but on the inflation
Reduction Act, we know part of it is going to change the way drugs.
Prescription drugs are priced under Medicare. Give us a sense of
when that kicks in.
Right, not right away. But in a few months, some of these provisions
will start to affect Americans on Medicare. Let's take a look at
what will go in place beginning next year. Now first at the top of
that list, the cost for insulin for those on Medicare will be capped
at $35 for a monthly set of doses than also, Medicare will begin
collecting rebates for any drug makers for
Drugs already in the system, who raised their prices above inflation,
so that will start capping some of those costs and then beginning
next year. Also, we will see vaccines. All vaccines be available
with no copay to anyone on Medicare. Judy That's significant because
it's not just talking about Covid. Let's talking about any kind of
vaccine that has senior needs across the system. And and we know
that that is something that those costs sometimes prevent treatment.
Also, Judy we're going to see in 2023.
Banded subsidies 2025
There will be a $2000 cap on out of pocket expenses and then in 2026
Medicare will be able to negotiate on a set of some drugs. And that
will expand over the following years after that, so important to
have that information just quickly. Lisa, is it How is it thought
that all of this may factor into the fall campaigns.
Right. You're going to hear echoes of what the president said today
they will call all of this historic. They will also say that Democrats
are providing solutions and being practical, and some of them will
say moderate Judy. All right, Lisa Desjardin giving us the historical