Our health and planet are at stake: We must pass the Inflation Reduction Act

We are on the verge of taking a historic step forward. The U.S. House of Representatives must pass the Inflation Reduction Act and President Joe Biden must sign this critical piece of legislation into law to improve our nation’s health.

We applaud our senators for coming together and passing this landmark legislation over the weekend, and we must now take the final steps to move it across the finish line, so that we can better meet the needs of our patients and communities.

Our patients are struggling every day to afford food, housing and the overall rising costs of living, and they cannot wait another minute to make medicines and health care more affordable. No one should have to choose between paying for their medicines and health care and paying their monthly bills to sustain their families and keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, for the first time, Medicare will be allowed to negotiate prices for a small subset of prescription drugs, similar to how the Department of Veterans Affairs already allows prescription drug price negotiation, and individuals with Medicare coverage will not pay more than $2,000 out of pocket each year for their medicines. Further, for people with diabetes with Medicare coverage, there will be a $35 cap on the price of insulin, a lifesaving drug. In addition, middle class families that purchase their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will be eligible for health insurance premium subsidies over the next 3 years, which was first provided by the American Rescue Plan, and is estimated to extend affordable ACA health insurance coverage for 13 million people.

The Inflation Reduction Act also makes a firm commitment to tackle climate change, which is not only critical for the preservation of our planet, but will also allow us to address the health effects of climate change. Climate change adversely impacts physical and mental health and disproportionately affects historically marginalized populations.

While climate change-related natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, heat waves, wildfires and droughts are associated with increased infectious diseases, including mosquito- and tick-borne illnesses and waterborne diseases, it is also associated with heat-related illness, drownings, poor air quality-associated heart and lung disease and malnutrition from crop failure and reduced livestock. Families living in poverty, particularly those unable to afford higher costs of food, utilities and housing, experience worse health from climate change. In addition, individuals who work outdoors are at increased risk for experiencing the adverse health effects of climate change, and those with fewer resources are less able to rebuild after a loss from a natural disaster, contributing to poorer physical and mental health outcomes.

As physicians, when we care for our patients each day and witness the rising incidence of illnesses associated with extreme heat events, flooding, housing displacement from wildfires and natural disasters, power cuts, inadequate ventilation and cooling systems in high-rise buildings, urban heat islands, air pollution, food insecurity, lack of access to clean and safe water, and other ill effects of climate change, which disproportionately impact the most vulnerable families in our nation, we have an obligation to elevate the voices and experiences of our patients by advocating for our nation to take direct action to tackle climate change.

We must collectively advocate on behalf of our patients for policies supporting comprehensive, direct and immediate action to halt climate change and the resulting health inequities, in order to avert one of our most significant health threats.

The Inflation Reduction Act gives us the framework to begin to seriously address climate change and allows us to begin to meaningfully lower the cost of prescription drugs for our nation’s seniors, who depend on Medicare to stay healthy. While the current bill is narrower in scope than previously proposed legislation, it represents a great first step and opens the door for future legislation that will more comprehensively meet the needs of our nation.

For the health of our nation and our planet, we must, therefore, call on our representatives in the U.S. House to follow the Senate’s lead and pass the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, so that this momentous piece of legislation can be enacted into law and move our nation forward.

For the contact information of your representative, visit: www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

References:

Democrats passed a major climate, health and tax bill. Here's what's in it. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/07/1116190180/democrats-are-set-to-pass-a-major-climate-health-and-tax-bill-heres-whats-in-it. Published Aug. 7, 2022. Accessed Aug. 9, 2022.

How the Inflation Reduction Act might affect your health care. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/09/health-care-inflation-reduction-act/. Published Aug. 9, 2022. Accessed Aug. 9, 2022.