WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted to lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs for working families and seniors, make a historic down payment to combat climate change and cut the deficit by $300 billion. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed the House by a final vote of 220 to 207 and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the economy is no longer on the mend – it is on the move. These critical investments ensure all Washingtonians benefit from the economic recovery by making health care and prescription drugs more affordable, creating millions of green jobs, lowering energy costs and combating climate change,” said Larsen.

The IRA addresses many of Larsen’s priorities to lower costs for working families and seniors and combat climate change, including:

Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs and Health Care

·         Enables Medicare to directly negotiate the price of prescription drugs with drug companies

·         Caps out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year for Medicare beneficiaries

·         Caps insulin copays at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries

·         Extends for three years the Affordable Care Act tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan that enabled 11,000 more people in the Second District and 95,000 people statewide to newly enroll in affordable health insurance plans.

Delivering the Largest Investment to Combat Climate Change in U.S. History

·         Taken together, provisions in the bill will reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.

·         Invests in domestic energy production and manufacturing, including:

o   $27 billion to support deployment of technologies to reduce carbon emissions, especially in disadvantaged communities

o   $5 billion to support healthy forests, forest fire resiliency, forest conservation and urban tree planting

o   $3 billion to support the purchase and installation of zero-emission equipment and technology at ports like the Port of Everett

o   $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to purchase zero-emission vehicles 

o   $2.6 billion to conserve and restore coastal habitats around Puget Sound and other marine ecosystems

o   $1 billion for cleaner heavy-duty vehicles like school and transit buses and garbage trucks 

o   $300 million to speed up production and adoption of cleaner aviation fuel

o   Consumers will receive discounts for electric vehicles at the point of sale, rather than waiting for a tax credit rebate.

Lowering the Deficit and Making Biggest Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

·         Makes a historic down payment on deficit reduction of approximately $300 billion

·         Strengthens IRS enforcement against wealthy tax cheats and closes tax loopholes exploited by the wealthiest few

·         Implements a 15 percent corporate minimum tax – which applies only to the 150 corporations earning over $1 billion in profits that pay less than 15 percent in taxes

For more information on the Inflation Reduction Act, click here.

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