What’s in Biden’s big climate and health bill?
WASHINGTON: Hundreds of billions of dollars for clean energy projects, cheaper prescription drugs and new corporate taxes are a few of the key items in US President Joe Biden’s massive investment plan, which the Senate will begin debating on Saturday. Here’s a closer look at the signature elements of the plan, which could offer the Democratic leader a big political win heading into November’s crucial midterm elections.
$370 billion for clean energy, climate
If the legislation is passed, it will mark the biggest investment in US history in the fight against climate change. Rather than attempting to punish the biggest polluters in corporate America, the bill put forward by Biden’s party instead proposes a series of financial incentives aimed at steering the world’s biggest economy away from fossil fuels. Tax credits would be given to producers and consumers of wind, solar and nuclear power. If passed, the legislation would allot up to $7,500 in tax credits to every American who buys an electric vehicle. Anyone installing solar panels on their roof would see 30 percent of the cost subsidized.
Around $60 billion would be allocated for clean energy manufacturing, from wind turbines to the processing of minerals needed for electric car batteries. The same amount would go towards programs to help drive investment in underprivileged communities, notably through grants for home renovation to improve energy efficiency and access to less polluting modes of transportation.
Huge investments would go into making forests less susceptible to wildfires and protect coastal areas from erosion caused by devastating hurricanes. The bill aims to help the United States reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, as compared with 2005 levels.
The second major aspect of the legislation is to help reduce the huge disparities in access to health care across the United States, notably by reining in skyrocketing prescription drug prices. If the draft eventually becomes law, Medicare-the nation’s health insurance plan for those aged 65 and older, or with modest incomes-could be permitted to negotiate prices of certain medications directly with Big Pharma for the first time, likely yielding far better deals.
The plan would require pharmaceutical companies to offer rebates on certain drugs if the prices rise faster than soaring US inflation. It also would extend benefits under Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Actknown colloquially as Obamacare-until 2025.
Alongside these huge investments, the so-called Inflation Reduction Act would seek to pare down the federal deficit through the adoption of a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent for all companies with profits exceeding one billion dollars. —AFP