Davids Votes to Lower Health Care Costs, Create Clean Energy Jobs, Reduce Deficit

In keeping with her commitment to lower costs for Kansas families and businesses, today, Representative Sharice Davids voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, comprehensive legislation that will lower health care and energy costs and reduce the national debt by more than $300 billion. The bill includes key priorities that Davids has pushed for including allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs and capping insulin costs at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare.

"Kansans I speak to daily are worried about rising prices on everything from medicines to gas to groceries," said Davids. "After today, many of the solutions I've sought to address these concerns – capping the cost of insulin, allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on prescription drugs, supporting clean energy jobs, all while lowering the deficit – will soon be signed into law. While no bill is perfect, we can't understate the massive, concrete difference this will make for families. I was proud to support it and will keep fighting for Kansans."

WATCH: Rep. Davids speaks on how Kansans will benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act.

See below for key provisions in The Inflation Reduction Act and what supporters are saying:

Health Care Costs

• Prescription Drugs: Empowers Medicare to begin negotiating directly to lower the price of prescription drugs (including insulin).
  • A longtime priority of Davids' to lower costs for Kansans and stop drug companies from gouging consumers, while saving patients and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
• Insulin: Caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Davids spoke with local parents and health professionals on the high price of insulin and released an insulin report finding that in the Third District, there are 17,000 seniors and disabled Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes who pay 4.8 times as much for brand-name diabetes medication as patients in other countries.
• ACA Tax Credits: Extends tax breaks for people who purchase insurance on Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges through 2025, saving the average household in the Kansas Third District $980 a year on health insurance premiums.
  • Individuals will pay no more than 8.5 percent of their income toward health coverage—down from the current roughly 10 percent. Lower income individuals will pay $0 in premiums.
• Capping Drug Costs: Caps Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 per year, with the option to break that amount into affordable monthly payments throughout the year.
• Inflation Rebate: Institutes a new "inflation rebate" under Medicare so that drug companies must rebate back the difference to Medicare if they raise prices higher than inflation.

"This legislation will be huge for our families," said Molly Gotobed, Program Director of the Kansas Assistance Network. "A rise in health insurance premiums is the last thing our community needs right now. Most people were relieved last year to see their premiums went down and extending these subsidies for another 3 years gives residents at least one area of financial stability during a very stressful time."

"Today is a momentous day for older Americans," said Jo Ann Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, AARP. "By passing the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has made good on decades of promises to lower the price of prescription drugs. Seniors should never have to choose between paying for needed medicine or other necessities like food or rent, and tens of millions of adults in Medicare drug plans will soon have peace of mind knowing their out-of-pocket expenses are limited every year."

Responsible Policy to Fight Inflation

• Reducing the Deficit: Reduces the national deficit by $305 billion through 2031, through cost-saving programs and closing tax loopholes on billionaires and the 150 wealthiest corporations.

"The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget commends Representative Davids for voting for the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the largest deficit reduction bill in more than a decade," said Maya MacGuineas, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "Representative Davids' support for this bill will reduce our nation's long-term deficit and assist the Federal Reserve in reducing inflation, helping to keep costs down in Kansas. We applaud Representative Davids for backing this critical legislation."

Energy and Climate

• Clean Energy Manufacturing: Accelerates U.S. manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and critical minerals processing through targeted incentives.
• Electric Buses: Replaces traditional heavy-duty vehicles from school and transit buses and garbage trucks with clean heavy-duty vehicles through a $1 billion federal investment.
  • Davids has worked to secure funding for Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) electric buses, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
• Affordable Housing Energy Efficiency: Establishes a $1 billion grant program to make affordable housing more energy efficient and institutes10 years of consumer tax credits, making heat pumps, rooftop solar, electric HVAC and water heaters more affordable.
• Short-Term Gas Price Fix: Requires three offshore oil and gas lease sales by the end of 2023, boosting American energy production in the short term to lower gas prices and reduce reliance on foreign countries.
  • Davids has called for short-term relief to lower gas prices through suspending the federal gas tax and increasing our refinery capacity.
• Emissions Reductions: Includes the largest ever climate and energy investment that will reduce harmful emissions 40 percent by 2030.

"As local leaders moving the metro region toward a more sustainable future and stronger economy, we are thrilled with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act," said Mike Kelly, Chairman of the Board, Climate Action KC. "This Act is a catalytic boost for renewable energy that will save money for individual consumers, homeowners, businesses, and local governments, while helping us meet our emissions reduction goals and reducing the national deficit. Thanks to Congresswoman Davids for being the only member of the Kansas delegation to support this historic effort."

Agriculture and Farming

• Sustainable Farming: Supports climate-smart agriculture practices through more than $20 billion in federal investments.
• Rural Energy Efficiency: Allocates $14 billion for clean energy in rural communities, including support for rural electric cooperatives transitioning to clean energy, and investments in the domestic production of biofuels, including infrastructure needed for sustainable aviation fuel.

"The Inflation Reduction Act's investments into agriculture and rural energy efficiency, especially the more than $20 billion dollars invested into climate smart agriculture, will provide a boon to the economic viability and ecological sustainability of farming and rural communities across the state," said Tom Buller, Executive Director, Kansas Rural Center. "The Kansas Rural Center is excited about the Inflation Reduction Act's potential to support sustainable agriculture and rural communities in Kansas and lead to a better climate in the future."

Kansans can visit Davids' Lower Costs webpage to find a list of local and national resources providing financial relief and employment opportunities. Find more information about the Inflation Reduction Act, including the full legislative text, HERE.