Cheaper Prescription Drugs, Health Care and A Real Shot at Fighting Climate Change

Earlier this month, Democrats in Congress completed one of our most productive legislative sessions in decades.

We made a historic investment in American technology and manufacturing. We expanded lifesaving care for millions of veterans. We led the charge on the first bipartisan gun safety bill in a generation. This is following passage of the American Rescue Plan that kept millions of small businesses, and the families they support, afloat during the pandemic. Turned into law with President Biden’s signature, the rewards of these measures – new jobs, safer streets, revived local economies – are making their impact felt on our community now and for the future.

And last week a landmark package called the Inflation Reduction Act transformed some of our country’s longest-standing priorities into realities. In addition to cutting our nation’s deficit and costs for working families, it finally sets us on course to fight the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. The benefits for our economy, our planet and our people will be felt immediately, and reverberate for generations to come.

On the health care front, the bill finally allows Medicare to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry and secure lower prescription drug prices – providing indescribable relief for every family who has cared for a loved one fighting cancer, MS, diabetes and other serious illnesses. It ensures Medicare beneficiaries will never have to pay more than $2,000 a year out-of-pocket for prescription drugs or more than $35 a month on lifesaving insulin.

And it saves 13 million Americans covered under the Affordable Care Act from losing the $800 they save on average on their health insurance premiums each year. Without this extension, nearly a quarter-million Californians could have been priced out of coverage and nearly one million low-income Californians would have seen their premium costs double.

In our fight against the climate crisis, the bill’s benefits are even more transformative. It’s our biggest investment in fighting climate change ever.

The bill will dramatically accelerate how fast we manufacture clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and batteries, and stand them up in California and across the country. Beyond cleaner air and water, those investments will create millions of good-paying jobs, launch new businesses and jumpstart local industries in the green economy that will dominate the next century.

At home, Californians will be able to claim thousands of dollars in new tax credits for electric vehicles, rooftop solar panels and more efficient appliances – investments that will save them hundreds of dollars a year while they help save the planet. And importantly, more than $60 billion will go towards environmental justice priorities and projects like air quality monitoring, clean energy infrastructure and transportation improvements in the neighborhoods most affected by carbon pollution and our changing climate.

Altogether, its provisions will put America on track to reduce our carbon emissions 40% by 2030 – the aggressive pace we need to stave off the worst effects of climate change. And I hope it’s just the beginning.

The bill is 100% paid for – and more. These historic provisions are made possible by making the largest corporations and the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Simple measures like strengthening enforcement, closing tax loopholes and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices freed up nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars. More than $300 billion was left over to help pay down the nation’s deficit and debt.

Imagine – this is only a glimpse of what’s possible when we take steps to make our economy work for everyone.

And that is why we must keep the momentum going. Inflation remains persistent, and this bill will make a huge dent, but I am still laser-focused on delivering for workers, families and future generations: lowering people’s costs, creating better-paying jobs and making our communities safe for everyone. With these latest victories in the rearview mirror, we can look ahead to even more bold solutions to the challenges we face.