The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, a broad piece of legislation with significant ramifications for inflation, climate change, and healthcare pricing, was officially passed through Congress on August 12th and signed into law on August 16th. 

Regarding healthcare, this progressive bill allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Additionally, Medicare now caps drug costs for seniors to $2,000 per year and insulin to $35 per month. The IRA also extends ACA subsidies beyond 2022 and through 2025, thus precluding premium increases for over 10 million people and the loss of insurance coverage for an additional 3 million people. Of course, these changes are not without downsides. Drug price caps are bound to reduce pharmaceutical companies’ revenue, disrupting the health economy. Extending ACA subsidies will increase government spending. Nevertheless, we believe the benefits of these changes outweigh the financial costs they bring.

Many of the IRA’s political dimensions are outside of National APAMSA’s scope. However, insofar as this bill relates to healthcare, we applaud its passage as a step forward in promoting healthcare access and affordability (see our Policy Compendium Resolution 10.001). As valuable for healthcare professionals to be committed to caring for underserved communities, we recognize there are limitations when patients cannot afford the care they need. We are thus excited to see new legislation continue to advance the health of our communities and the ability of our healthcare professionals to care for those in need. 

National APAMSA also looks future-ward to what work remains for us to accomplish. Although the IRA capped insulin prices to $35 for Medicare enrollees, it failed to extend that limit to all private insurance companies. Moreover, there are still 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid up to the 138% of the federal poverty level, thereby denying 3.7 million people healthcare coverage. The AANHPI community would see a roughly 25% reduction in uninsurance if these states were to expand their Medicaid coverage. We urge our policymakers to rectify these shortcomings and further protect the health of our communities through legislation.