Biden touts billions in lowered costs on Inflation Reduction Act's 2nd anniversary

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden said Friday the two-year-old Inflation Reduction Act is working to lower health costs for millions, lowers the deficit and is the largest climate investment is history as it cuts energy costs while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Biden marked the two-year anniversary of the law that Vice President Kamala Harris made possible with her tie-breaking vote after no Republicans voted for it.

"Already, this law is lowering health care costs for millions of families, strengthening energy security, and creating more than 330,000 clean energy jobs according to outside groups," Biden said in a statement.

"It has also unleashed $265 billion in clean energy and manufacturing investments from the private sector in the last two years -- part of the nearly $900 billion invested in America since we took office."

On Thursday, Biden said negotiations with pharmaceutical companies over Medicare drug prices, made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, will save Medicare $6 billion and Medicare recipients $1.5 billion in the first year alone.

In January people on Medicare will have their annual prescription drug costs capped under the IRA at $2,000 per year.

Republicans, Biden said, want to repeal the IRA.

"While Republicans in Congress try to repeal this law-which would increase prescription drug costs and take good-paying jobs away from their constituents, all to give massive tax cuts to big corporations-Vice President Harris and I will keep fighting to move our country forward by investing in America and giving families more breathing room," Biden said.

In a separate statement Friday the White House listed the benefits of the IRA.

They include the lowered Medicare drug prices, $8.4 billion tax credit savings to homeowners who do energy upgrades, an average savings of $800 per year in lowered health insurance premiums, $900 billion in clean energy and manufacturing investments, and an electric vehicle tax credit saving buyers roughly $1.5 billion so far.

According to the Treasury Department, companies have announced $265 billion in new clean energy investments in nearly every state in the nation since the IRA was passed.

Data from the Treasury Department and IRS confirmed Aug. 7 that more than 3.4 million Americans benefitted from $8.4 billion in clean energy tax credits provided by the IRA.

"Over the next decade, the Inflation Reduction Act's investments will enable the IRS to further crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats and collect over $400 billion in additional revenue," the White House said.

The White House added that using IRA additional funding, the IRS has collected $1 billion from 1,500 "millionaire tax cheats" and enforcement action has been launched against 25,000 more millionaires who haven't filed tax returns since 2017.

IRA investments are also "flowing disproportionately to disadvantaged and left behind communities: 99% of high-poverty counties have received funding from the infrastructure law, CHIPS Act, or Inflation Reduction Act, and non-metro communities have received nearly double the per capita funding of their urban counterparts," the White House said.