And billions left over to pay down federal deficits.
All told, the
Not as robust as Biden's initial ideas to rebuild America's public infrastructure and family support systems, the compromise of health care, climate change and deficit-reduction strategies is also a stunning election year turnaround, a smaller but not unsubstantial product brought back to political life after having collapsed last year.
Voters will be left to sort it out in the November elections, when control of
Here's what's in the estimated
LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate prescription some drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some
The result is expected to lower costs for seniors on medications, including a
The revenue raised would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
Seniors would also have insulin prices capped at
HELP PAYING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for some 13 million people who are purchasing their own health care policies through the Affordable Care Act.
BIGGEST
The bill would infuse nearly
For consumers, that means tax rebates to buy electric vehicles —
Not all electric vehicles will fully qualify for the tax credits, thanks to requirements that component parts be manufactured and assembled in the
There's also tax breaks for consumers to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar.
For businesses, the bill has
The bill also gives tax credits for nuclear power and carbon capture technology that oil companies such as
The bill would impose a new fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas drilling while giving fossil fuel companies access to more leases on federal lands and waters.
A late addition pushed by Sen.
HOW TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?
One of the biggest revenue-raisers in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than
It's a way to clamp down on some 200 U.S. companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise more than
There will also be a new 1% excise tax imposed on stock buybacks, raising some
Savings from allowing Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies is expected to bring in
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than
Yet money is also raised by boosting the
EXTRA MONEY TO PAY DOWN DEFICITS
With some
Federal deficits spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation's economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the
WHAT'S LEFT BEHIND?
The package, nowhere near the sweeping Build Back Better program Biden once envisioned, remains a sizable undertaking and, along with COVID-19 relief and the
While
Gone, for now, are are plans for free pre-kindergarten and community college, as well as the nation's first paid family leave program that would have provided up to
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