WASHINGTON, D.C.— Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) voted today to send the Inflation Reduction Act to the President’s desk and lower health care and prescription drug costs, combat climate change, tackle the root causes of inflation, and reduce the deficit.
“Rising prices have impacted working families across the country, and the Inflation Reduction Act will put money back into the pockets of Coastal Virginians by lowering health care costs, reducing energy prices, creating jobs, and fighting inflation. The Inflation Reduction Act will also combat climate change and invest in American energy to end our dependence on foreign energy sources like Russia and China,” Rep. Luria said. “The Inflation Reduction Act delivers for Coastal Virginians in the short-term while making long-term investments to reduce the deficit and build a better future for generations of Americans.”
According to 126 leading economists—including seven Nobel Prize winners, three former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers, two former Treasury Secretaries— the Inflation Reduction Act “will fight inflation and lower costs for American families while setting the stage for strong, stable, and broadly-shared long-term economic growth.”
The Inflation Reduction Act will lower health care costs by allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for prescription drugs, limiting the out-of-pocket prescription costs for seniors, and ensuring that drug companies can no longer raise prices faster than the rate of inflation.
The legislation also represents the largest single federal investment to combat climate change and promote energy security through growing our domestic energy production and ending our reliance on foreign sources.
The Inflation Reduction Act is fully paid for and will not add to the national debt or raise taxes on working families, and will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade.
The Inflation Reduction Act:
-Enacts historic deficit reduction to fight inflation.
-Lowers energy costs, increases cleaner production, and reduces carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.
-Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket costs to $2,000.
-Lowers ACA health care premiums for millions of Americans.
-Caps insulin costs at $35 a month for seniors and individuals with disabilities on Medicare.