President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law Aug. 16, 2022, with the $739 billion reconciliation package including several significant healthcare provisions.
The legislation provides financial relief for Medicare beneficiaries by improving access to affordable treatments, expanding benefits, reducing drug costs and stabilizing prescription drug premiums, according to CMS. It also provides improved financial help to purchase healthcare.gov and state-based Marketplace plans and expands access to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended vaccines for adults with Medicaid coverage.
Here are seven things the Inflation Reduction Act is accomplishing one year after being enacted, according to CMS:
1. Saving Affordable Care Act Marketplace consumers an average of over $800 a year by expanding financial assistance, based on national estimates.
2. Driving the uninsured rate to historic lows. The uninsured rate hit a record low of 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to data published Aug. 3 by the CDC.
3. Lowering insulin costs for 4 million seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes by capping a month's supply of each covered insulin at $35.
5. Providing ACIP-recommended adult vaccines at no cost to millions of people with Medicare.
6. Lowering out-of-pocket costs for some people with Medicare for certain Part B drugs and biologicals with prices that have increased faster than the rate of inflation.
7. Projecting savings for nearly 19 million seniors of an average of $400 per year when the $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs goes into effect in 2025.