Democrats in Congress have had to scale back their legislative ambitions since last year, but the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the House on Friday and sent to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for his signature, is still a substantial piece of legislation, which will make big investments in the environment and health care, and increase taxes on some key groups.
*These are rough estimates because of changes to the drug price provisions in the bill after cost and savings estimates were released. Savings from the drug price negotiation policy may end up being lower, and the savings from limits on drug price increases are unofficial estimates based on an analysis by Don Schneider, a former chief economist of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Figures are in billions and over 10 years.
The bill includes policies lowering the prices of prescription drugs; increasing the generosity of Medicare benefits; and encouraging the development of renewable energy and reducing the impact of climate change.
It would also raise taxes on some corporations and bolster the ability of the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on wealthy tax evaders. It would lower the federal deficit, though modestly.
The bill includes last-minute changes requested by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, the final holdout among her party’s 50 senators. Democratic leaders agreed to remove a tax on some wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives, and to include $4 billion in drought funding for her state.
The table below describes everything in the bill, including the prices:
What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act
Figures are in billions and over 10 years.
Spending and tax cuts: $490 billion
| Affordable Care Act subsidies Expanded subsidies for three years |
$64.1 |
| Medicare prescription drug benefit Increased generosity through Part D redesign and a $35 cap on co-payments for insulin |
$34.2 |
| New tax credits for emissions-free electricity sources and storage Including wind, solar, geothermal, advanced nuclear, etc. |
$62.7 |
| Extending existing tax credits for wind and solar power |
$51.1 |
| Tax credit for existing nuclear reactors To prevent them from closing |
$30.0 |
| Extend energy credit Through 2024 |
$14.0 |
| Clean energy rebates and grants for residential buildings Rebates for installing heat pumps and retrofitting homes |
$9.0 |
| Financing for energy infrastructure Updates and expands lending programs to make energy generation and transmission more efficient |
$6.8 |
| Tax credit for carbon capture and storage |
$3.2 |
| Clean manufacturing incentives Incentives for companies to manufacture clean energy technologies in the U.S. rather than abroad, through tax credits and the Defense Production Act |
$37.4 |
| Reduce emissions from energy-intensive industries Such as concrete production |
$5.3 |
| Green energy credits for individuals Extends and increases tax credits for energy-efficient properties |
$36.9 |
| Tax credits for new and used electric cars Incentives for purchasing emissions-free vehicles, with income limits, and for installing alternative fueling equipment. |
$14.2 |
| Clean hydrogen production |
$13.2 |
| Fuel tax credits Creates new credits for low-carbon car and airplane fuels, and extends credits for biodiesel and other renewable fuels |
$8.6 |
| Financing for clean energy vehicles Loans and grants for the production of hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars |
$2.9 |
| “Green bank” for energy investments For investments in clean energy projects, particularly in poor communities |
$20.0 |
| Other air pollution reduction Includes funding for monitoring and reducing pollution, and grants for disadvantaged neighborhoods |
$14.8 |
| Agricultural conservation Funding for agricultural practices that improve soil carbon, reduce nitrogen losses and decrease emissions |
$16.7 |
| Rural development Investments in clean energy technology in rural areas |
$13.2 |
| Forest conservation and restoration Includes funding to reduce risk of wildfires |
$4.8 |
| Improvements to federal buildings and highways |
$5.2 |
| Electric transmission Loans and grants to finance electricity transmission, including for offshore wind energy generation |
$2.3 |
| Drought resilience |
$4.6 |
| Weather and climate resilience Includes investments in coastal areas and weather forecasting resources |
$4.6 |
| Other federal research, projects and oversight Includes funding for FEMA, D.H.S. and D.O.E. |
$4.2 |
| Zero-emissions U.S.P.S. trucks |
$3.0 |
| National Park Service funding Includes funds for climate resilience and habitat preservation |
$1.0 |
| Data collection and environmental reviews |
$0.8 |
| Other |
$0.7 |
| Tribal funding Clean energy, electrification, drought relief and climate resilience for federally recognized tribes. |
$0.5 |
| Wildlife recovery and habitat climate resilience |
$0.3 |
Savings and new revenue: $764 billion
| 15% corporate minimum tax |
$222.2 |
| I.R.S. enforcement Projected net revenue raised from $80 billion in compliance and enforcement funding. |
$124.1 |
| Stock buyback tax |
$73.7 |
| Extend active loss tax limitation two years |
$52.8 |
| Repeal a regulation on prescription drug rebates This regulation has never gone into effect, so the savings are mostly just on paper |
$122.2 |
| Drug price negotiation* Medicare negotiation on prices for certain drugs |
$99.0 |
| Limits on drug price increases* |
$62.3 |
| Methane reduction incentives Sets methane waste emissions thresholds and charges facilities that exceed them. (Increased revenue net of new spending.) |
$4.8 |
| Reinstatement of Superfund Increased revenue net of new spending. |
$1.2 |
| Tax to fund the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund Permanent extension |
$1.2 |
| New oil and gas leases On federal land and in the Gulf of Mexico |
$0.5 |
| Other tax adjustments |
$0.3 |
| Wind lease sales |
$0.2 |
*These are rough estimates because of changes to the drug price provisions in the bill after cost and savings estimates were released. Savings from the drug price negotiation policy may end up being lower, and the savings from limits on drug price increases are unofficial estimates based on an analysis by Don Schneider, a former chief economist of the House Ways and Means Committee.
But if the current bill includes a lot — in spending, new taxes and policies — it also omits a lot of the Democrats’ original ambitions. Missing is an entire set of family policies that were in a bill passed by the House last year, like a generous child tax credit and paid family leave.
Certain health policies, such as an expansion of Medicaid to give more low-income adults health insurance, have been removed to pare down the bill’s cost. And though the climate policies are the most expansive passed by any Congress, they are more modest than those included in earlier versions of the legislation.
The current bill includes clean electricity incentives that are comparable in size to those in a version passed by the House last year. But it scales back spending in almost every other category, from transportation to climate resilience. Some proposed investments from earlier versions — like those for lead remediation, work force development such as a Civilian Climate Corps, and electric bicycle tax credits — did not make it into the new text. The one major exception is manufacturing: Compared with previous versions of the bill, this legislation marks a significant increase in grants, loans and tax credits to manufacture clean energy technology domestically.
But it also pairs new climate spending with several major concessions to the fossil fuel industry at the request of Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, whose support was necessary to advance the bill.
Here’s how the legislation compares with the much larger social safety net and climate bill passed by the House in November, often referred to as Build Back Better.
How the Bill Compares With Build Back Better
Figures are in billions and over 10 years.
| Tax credits and new spending |
$392 | $570 |
| Home health care through Medicaid |
— | $150 |
| Expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance |
$64 | $130 |
| New Medicare hearing benefit |
— | $35 |
| Increased generosity in Medicare’s prescription drug benefit |
$34 | — |
| Health care work force spending |
— | $25 |
| New child care program (6 years) |
— | $270 |
| Four weeks of annual federal paid family and medical leave |
— | $205 |
| Universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds (6 years) |
— | $110 |
| Child tax credit increase for one year; fully refundable after 2022 |
— | $190 |
| Expanded earned-income tax credit extended for one year |
— | $15 |
| Other tax changes |
— | $10 |
| Build and support affordable housing |
— | $175 |
| Immigration reform |
— | $110 |
| Other spending |
— | $115 |
| Higher education and work force |
— | $40 |
| Total | $490 billion | $2.15 trillion |
|---|
| Negotiation of certain drug prices and limit price increases* |
$162 | $160 |
| Repeal a regulation on prescription drug rebates |
$122 | $145 |
| Adjustments to uncompensated care pools |
— | $20 |
| 15% corporate minimum tax |
$222 | $320 |
| Stock buyback tax |
$74 | $125 |
| 15 percent global minimum tax and international taxation reforms |
— | $280 |
| Other |
— | $105 |
| Expand the net investment income tax |
— | $250 |
| Surtax on income above $10 million |
— | $230 |
| Extension of limits on excess losses of noncorporate taxpayers |
$53 | $160 |
| Increase state and local tax deduction cap through 2025 |
— | $15 |
| I.R.S. enforcement |
$124 | $130 |
| Methane fee, Superfund fee and other revenue |
$18 | $50 |
| Total | $775 billion | $2 trillion |
|---|
*The figure for the Inflation Reduction Act is a rough estimate because of changes to the drug price provisions in the bill after cost and savings estimates were released. Savings from the drug price negotiation policy may end up being lower, and the savings from limits on drug price increases are unofficial estimates based on an analysis by Don Schneider, a former chief economist of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Inflation Reduction Act is projected to reduce deficits by roughly $275 billion over 10 years, while the Build Back Better plan passed by the House would have added about $160 billion to deficits.
Democrats have said the new bill’s deficit reduction, as well as the provisions aimed at lowering energy and prescription drug costs, will help address the rapid inflation over the past year. Many economists, including supporters of the bill, have said that while it may reduce price pressures, the overall effect is likely to be modest, and over the long term.
The promise of taming inflation helped bring Mr. Manchin on board, who cited concerns about rising prices when he pulled his support from the bill passed by the House last year.
In a statement last month after an agreement on a new bill had been made with Democratic leadership, Mr. Manchin announced, “Build Back Better is dead, and instead we have the opportunity to make our country stronger by bringing Americans together.”
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