King Votes for Inflation Reduction Act to Lower Costs, Fight Climate Change, and Cut the Deficit

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King, (I-Maine) today voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, an historic package to address rising energy and healthcare costs, fight climate change, create jobs and cut the deficit. The legislation includes significant, commonsense changes to Medicare that caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $2000 a year and allows Medicare to negotiate lower prices for many of the drugs it purchases. The bill will also make investments to help reduce consumers' short-term energy costs and support America's renewable energy future. The Inflation Reduction Act is fully paid for, and includes Senator King's proposals for a 15% corporate minimum tax and stronger IRS tax enforcement to reduce the deficit by trillions. Combined, the unprecedented effort - which passed 51-50 with the Vice President's tie breaking vote - will mean lower costs for Maine people, a stronger economy, and a more aggressive national approach to slowing climate change.

"From electric bills to groceries, people across Maine are struggling with rising prices. While there are dozens of causes of inflation, they boil down to one result: your money isn't going as far as it used to," said Senator King. "The Inflation Reduction Act is a major step to address growing daily expenses and bring both immediate and long-term inflation relief to Maine people. This historic legislation will cut costs, create jobs, and curb climate change while reducing the federal deficit.

"The billdirectly addresses areas where costs are rising the most, including healthcare and energy prices. After years of Maine people - especially seniors - spending too much on their medications, the bill will allow Medicare to negotiate significant discounts for America's seniors and cap beneficiaries' out-of-pocket medication costs at $2,000 per year. It also extends critical Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to keep premiums low," Senator King continued. "This will mean lower healthcare costs and less financial stress for the 30% of our state enrolled in Medicare and the more than one hundred thousand Maine people who receive healthcare through the ACA.

"Along with healthcare, the historic package works to drive down the costs of oil and gas, while investing in a future of American-produced clean energy. With investments in the domestic production of fossil fuels, we can put more gas on the market and lower prices while we transition to cleaner energy sources," continued Senator King. "Combined with support for household energy savers like heat pumps and insulation, the bill could cut energy expenses for the average Maine family by almost $2,000 a year - and that's just the short-term benefits. Looking to the future, we can lower long-term energy costs by incentivizing clean, affordable, American-produced energy. That's why the Inflation Reduction Act provides much-needed funds to boost domestic manufacturing of wind, solar, hydropower, battery storage, and other key technologies. It'll help to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 40% from 2005 levels and create thousands of good-paying jobs nationwide.

"Beyond these significant inflation-cutting investments, the Inflation Reduction Act legislation will also reduce the deficit by an estimated $1.9 trillion over the next two decades by closing tax loopholes long exploited by massive corporations and the wealthiest Americans. This won't raise taxes one cent on working people - instead, it makes sure a welder at BIW won't be paying more in income taxes than a giant multinational company," Senator King concluded. "With all these provisions combined, the Inflation Reduction Act is a huge step to lower healthcare and energy costs, cut carbon emissions, and reduce the deficit for decades. It's a game-changing piece of legislation that addresses today's challenges and set Americans up for continued success in the decades ahead."

The Inflation Reduction Act will:

LOWER HEALTH CARE AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

• Empower Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. The Inflation Reduction Act allows Medicare to negotiate a significantly discounted price for the prescription drugs they buy from pharmaceutical companies. This will save taxpayers hundreds-of-billions.
• Cap Medicare patients' out of pocket costs at $2,000 per year. Today, there is no cap on spending for prescription drugs seniors buy from pharmacies. The Inflation Reduction Act caps Medicare's out of pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year, ensuring that devastating diagnoses, like cancer, will never again mean paying tens of thousands for just one drug.
• Institute a new "inflation rebate" under Medicare. Drug companies should not be allowed to make arbitrary and rapid price increases on products that are not changing year-to-year. The Inflation Reduction Act requires drug companies to rebate back the difference to Medicare if they raise prices higher than inflation.
• Provide free vaccines for seniors. The Inflation Reduction Act makes all vaccines free in Medicare for seniors, the only population for which vaccines were not already free.
• Expand premium and co-pay assistance on prescription drugs for low-income individuals. Currently, the low-income subsidy program (LIS) under Medicare Part D is fully available to all seniors earning less than 135% of the federal poverty level, and partially available to seniors earning less than 150% of the federal policy level. The Inflation Reduction Act eliminates the partial subsidy status, giving those seniors the full low-income subsidy under Medicare Part D.
• Extend Affordable Care Act premium subsides. The Inflation Reduction Act makes a three year extension of premium subsidies for American's who receive their healthcare through the Affordable Care Act - more than 100,000 Maine people.

CUT ENERGY COSTS AND ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE

• Make the largest ever investment in clean energy. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $260 billion in clean energy tax credits - the largest investment ever in renewable energy technologies. This will reduce carbon emissions by 40% in just a few years, and create countless manufacturing and production jobs across the country.
• Support energy efficiency and cost-saving programs. Included in the Inflation Reduction Act is $80 billion for energy saving rebates. This will help Maine people purchase cost-saving technologies like heat pumps, better insulation, or home solar panels.
• Invest in the production of American oil and gas. The Inflation Reduction Act expands leasing of oil and gas on federal lands to increase the supply of American fossil fuels and drive down prices for consumers as the country transitions to clean energy.
• Boost efforts to fight climate change. Along with support for a clean energy transition, the Inflation Reduction Act contains several major provisions to address climate change. The bill has $1.5 billion in rewards for cutting methane emissions, $27 billion for a "green" technology bank, and significant support for clean transportation.

REDUCE THE DEFICT AND CLOSE TAX LOOPHOLES

• Fund the IRS to go after high-earning tax cheats to improve tax compliance. Some of America's wealthiest have taken advantage of an underfunded Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to avoid paying the taxes the owe. The Inflation Reduction Act boosts IRS funding by $80 billion for better enforcement that will net $100 billion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years. This bill reflects the same priorities as the STOP Cheaters Act that Senator King introduced in May 2021.
• Enforce a 15% Corporate Minimum Tax. Many of America's largest companies exploit loopholes to pay little to no taxes - it's not fair to taxpayers. The Inflation Reduction Act includes a corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) provision, based on Senator King's Real Corporate Profits Minimum Tax Act, thatimposes a 15% minimum tax on corporations with profits of more than $1 billion, raising more than $250 billion in the next 10 years.
• Reduce the deficit for years to come. In total, the Inflation Reduction Act is projected to reduce the deficit by $1.9 trillion over the next two decades.

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