Warner & Kaine Celebrate Second Anniversary of The Inflation Reduction Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) celebrated the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) becoming law. Both senators were proud to support the groundbreaking legislation, which passed in the Senate by one vote and has lowered health care costs, capped insulin prices, and brought new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate investment to Virginia—all while cutting the deficit in the process.

“I’m proud that we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a truly historic investment in unleashing domestic energy production, lowering prices for hardworking families, and creating American jobs,” said Warner. “In the two years since we got the IRA done, we’ve already seen historic efforts to bring down the skyrocketing costs of insulin and other prescription drugs, critical job-creating investments across the Commonwealth, and lower health care premiums for hundreds of thousands of Virginians. The best part is that we’re just getting started. I’m looking forward to more provisions of this law setting in to lower costs, turbocharge energy production, and create good jobs for Virginians.”

“The IRA is a landmark piece of legislation that has already established a $35 monthly cap on insulin, lowered health care premiums for over 300,000 Virginians, and brought hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate investments to Virginia to create new jobs,” said Kaine. “And we’re not finished yet. Thanks to the IRA, Medicare has begun negotiating drug prices for the very first time—and the results of the initial round of negotiations that were announced yesterday will save older Americans $1.5 billion and the federal budget $6 billion in the first year of implementation alone. Lowering costs and creating jobs are among my top priorities, and I look forward to building on this progress.”

The IRA included clean energy tax credits that have incentivized a series of corporate investments in Virginia, including:

• A $681 million investment by LS GreenLink to build a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture high-voltage subsea cables used for offshore wind farms in Chesapeake.
• An investment of over $400 million by Topsoe to build a new manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, which will create at least 150 new jobs in Virginia.
• An investment of over $208 million by Mack and Volvo Trucks to sustain 7,900 union jobs and create 295 new jobs in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Volvo Trucks is the second largest employer in the New River Valley, sustaining 3,600 jobs in Dublin, including 3,200 United Automobile Workers (UAW) jobs. In April 2023, Kaine toured the Volvo Trucks NRV facility in Dublin, met with employees, and drove a Volvo VNR Electric truck.

In addition to incentivizing those investments, the IRA included the following provisions that have already taken effect:

Health Care

• Black lung benefits: The law permanently extended the black lung excise tax at a higher rate, providing more certainty for miners, miner retirees, and their families who rely on the fund to access benefits. In Virginia, thousands of miners and their families have received benefits through the trust fund since it was established, including approximately 2,600 Virginians in 2021. Click here to learn more about what this means for miners and miner retirees like Mr. James Gibbs, a Bristol native, the At-Large International Vice President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and Kaine's guest to the 2023 State of the Union.
• $35 cap on the cost of insulin: Out-of-pocket costs for insulin—regardless of how much a patient needs—are capped at $35 per month under Medicare. Thanks to the IRA, 36,461 Virginians on Medicare who use insulin now pay no more than $35 per month. Click here to learn how seniors like Mrs. Marguerite Bailey Young of Fredericksburg, who was Warner’s guest to the 2023 State of the Union, are benefiting from the $35 cap.
• Free vaccines for Medicare recipients: People with Medicare no longer have to pay to receive most vaccines under Medicare Part D, which includes vaccines for shingles, HPV, MMR, diphtheria, and pertussis. In 2023, over 230,000 seniors in Virginia received a recommended vaccine free of cost.
• Extension of ACA subsidies: During the pandemic, Congress enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to help lower health care premiums for millions of Americans. The IRA extended these enhanced subsidies through 2025 to help make Virginians’ health insurance more affordable. 350,008 Virginians with ACA coverage are receiving assistance to lower the cost of their premium. In 2022, Virginians saved an average of $508 per month on their health insurance premium.
• Lower Premiums for More Than 500,000 Virginians: There are additional provisions that went into effect to limit annual premium increases for Americans, including more than 500,000 Virginians enrolled in Medicare Part D.
• Penalties on drug manufacturers that increase prices: Manufacturers are required to keep the increase in the cost of their drugs at or below inflation.

A fact sheet including a timeline for various IRA provisions related to lowering health care costs is available here.

Clean Energy

• Boosts to clean energy investments: Clean energy manufacturers can apply for expanded tax credits that incentivize investment in and production of renewable energy technologies like solar power and offshore wind. The IRA set aside $4 billion in credits for businesses that make these investments in energy communities that have seen closures of coal mines or retirements of coal-fired power plants in recent years. This means that communities in Virginia, especially Southwest Virginia, are well-positioned to benefit from many of these tax credits and funding opportunities. Last year, Kaine hosted an event at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap to discuss how Virginia can best harness the clean energy tax credits, economic development, and job creation opportunities created by the legislation.
• Improvements to home energy efficiency: Homeowners can receive up to 30 percent back through tax credits for making energy efficiency improvements to their home—generally up to a maximum of $1,200 per year but potentially up to $3,200 if improvements include heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, or biomass stoves.
• Simplified Electric Vehicle (EV) Tax Credits: The IRA allows qualified individuals to get a tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of new EVs or a tax credit of up to $4,000 for certain used EVs and plug-in hybrids purchased through a dealership. Virginians who buy an EV from a participating dealer can now choose to receive their tax credit for that purchase at the point-of-sale instead of after filing their taxes.
• Federal funding to help low-income and disadvantaged communities more easily access solar energy: The IRA brought over $156 million in federal funding to Virginia to support solar energy development in low-income areas, which will lower energy costs for families and create good-quality jobs while tackling the effects of climate change.

While many provisions in the IRA have already been implemented, there are additional provisions that will begin later this year or in the years to come:

• Cap on out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs: Beginning in 2025, there will be a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs for seniors covered under Medicare Part D. Some estimates have shown that Virginia seniors on Medicare will save an average of $440.62 on out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs thanks to this cap. Watch here to hear what this cap will mean for seniors like Mr. Irv Varkonyi from Fairfax.
• Medicare drug price negotiation: On September 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a list of the first 10 drugs covered under Part D eligible for the Medicare drug price negotiation program. Yesterday, CMS announced the results of that first round of negotiations, which included discounts of up to 79% and will go into effect in 2026. The IRA provided Medicare with the ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for the first time in history.

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