On August 16, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Inflation Reduction Act. This extensive document outlines various new laws, many of which are tailored to the betterment of the country. This act targets healthcare/prescription drug costs, job wages, taxation, the current U.S. deficit, and the climate crisis.

One of the major changes will be the lowering of prescription drug costs, which will happen fully by 2025. For example, a senior citizen will not have to pay over $35 for a monthly supply of insulin, which currently costs anywhere from $300-$1000 per month. Along with this, the act will protect Medicare recipients from high drug costs by implementing an out-of-pocket cap on those costs. This will significantly lower the price of healthcare for those who struggle to afford it.

The act also aims to raise wages for workers and create a surplus of good-paying union jobs in the near future. Also, companies that do not follow through on their promised wages will be penalized, and the workers will receive their promised wages plus interest. Along with this, the government will begin to heavily crack down on billionaires, trillionaires, and companies that are not paying their fair share of taxes or are committing tax evasion. 

A deficit is created when expenses exceed revenue, which can be simply defined as someone spending more money than they make. This act will reduce the deficit–which was $1.6 trillion in 2021–by hundreds of billions of dollars, bringing a better balance to the economy and to the lives of millions of Americans.

More tax money will be apportioned toward building American clean energy supply chains and clean energy production. Per the act, this will not raise taxes for families who make under $400k per year. The aim is to strengthen climate resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a billion metric tons by 2030, which will positively impact the climate 10 times more than any other piece of legislation ever passed. Also, this renewed focus on clean energy will create millions of jobs for people in the United States.

Despite many oppositions, this act was passed by the House of Representatives with a vote of 220-207 and has been declared “the most ambitious action ever taken against the climate crisis” by climate activists. The act contains many facets, but one thing is certain: the United States will be seeing some major changes sooner rather than later.