- On Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- They said The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 should help ease inflation and fight climate change.
Sen. Joe Manchin reached a deal with Senate Majority Lead Chuck Schumer on The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
A summary of the deal says it "will make a historic down payment" to help the economy and fight climate change. Full text of the bill was dropped on Wednesday night.
Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, helped thwart President Joe Biden's efforts to establish an expansive Build Back Better plan aimed at climate, economic, and health care progress. The deal that Manchin and Schumer struck is a skinnier version of Biden's original plan.
"For too long, the reconciliation debate in Washington has been defined by how it can help advance Democrats' political agenda called Build Back Better. Build Back Better is dead, and instead, we have the opportunity to make our country stronger by bringing Americans together," the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement.
Senior Democrats intend to pay for a deal through a 15% corporate minimum tax, IRS tax enforcement, and closing a loophole that benefits wealthy investors.
"I will do everything I can to usher in a new era of compromise and commonsense that will make America more energy secure, financially sound, and a more united country for this generation and the next," he added.
Energy and climate
The new deal goes against Manchin's previous comments suggesting he would not support spending on climate change.
It will allocate $369 billion to energy security and climate change working to lower carbon emissions by 40% by the year 2030. Part of that is achieved with new tax credits for electric vehicles meant to encourage more Americans to buy them.
Under the bill, Americans qualify for a $4,500 tax credit to buy used electric vehicles, depending on their annual income. The amount increases to $7,500 if it's a new EV.
It sets aside $60 billion for the manufacturing of domestic clean energy. There are also tax credits to slash the cost of heat pumps, water heaters, and rooftop solar energy.
The bill aims to bring down energy costs as well.
Affordable Care Act extension
An estimated $64 billion will be focused on the extension of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, for an additional three years through 2025, one year longer than Democrats had suggested. Americans purchasing insurance under the program would pay no more than 8.5% of their income for coverage.
Many middle-income families would qualify for financial assistance for the first time, and lower-income households would pay little or nothing for insurance. The extension doesn't impose additional restrictions on who is eligible, otherwise known as a means-test.
The program was first established under the Biden stimulus law last year and it's set to expire at the end of 2022. Democrats are racing to prevent the program from ending since voters would receive notices of their spiking premiums only weeks before the November midterms.
Prescription drug reform
The deal also allows Medicare to negotiate the price of 10 prescription drugs starting in 2026, a top Democratic goal. That amount increases over the years.
It also caps out-of-pocket costs for seniors relying on Medicare Part D at $2,000 annually. The bill also penalizes drugmakers if they increase prices faster than inflation rates. Then, Medicare beneficiaries would qualify for free vaccines.
However, it omits another major priority for Democrats: Capping the cost of insulin to $35 per month. That forms part of a bill by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
The full 725-page draft bill
A draft of the bill's text was released on Wednesday night.
Along with a one-page, topline summary: