US President Joe Biden Signs Massive Climate Change And Healthcare Bill Into Law

The legislation includes an investment of around $375 billion over a decade and caps prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients.

New Delhi: United States president Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a Democrats’ landmark climate change and healthcare bill into law, reported news agency Associated Press. The legislation includes the “most substantial federal investment in history” to fight climate change spending around $375 billion over a decade and cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients as per the report. 

The legislation would help an estimated 13 million US citizens to pay for healthcare insurance by extending subsidies provided during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The funds for this new law will be channelled through new taxes levied on large companies and stepped-up Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit. 

During the signing event at the White House termed the law as proof that democracy, no matter how long or messy the process, can still deliver for voters in America as he road-tested a line he will likely repeat later this fall ahead of midterm elections. 

“The American people won, and the special interests lost,” he said, quoted by the news agency. 

“In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests in this vote,” Biden said, repeatedly seizing on the contrast between his party and the GOP. “Every single one.”

The Bill was approved in the House on Friday on a party line 220-207 votes. It passed the Senate days earlier with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie in that chamber. 

As per the report, the US President also plans to hold a cabinet meeting to discuss implementation of the new climate and healthcare law. 

The Republicans criticised the legislation saying that its new business taxes will increase prices, worsening the nation’s bout with its highest inflation since 1981. Though Democrats have labelled the measure the Inflation Reduction Act, nonpartisan analysts say it will have a barely perceptible impact on prices.