(BEND, OR) -- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) says the Inflation Reduction Act, now on its way to the U.S. House, will help almost every American. He points to the $20 billion included for climate-smart agriculture, "It empowers farmers to make decisions, with respect to drought mitigation, how to promote carbon sequestration - our farmers are so well positioned to sequester carbon, and that’s part of climate-smart agriculture." He says it also provides major protections for drought relief and wildfire.
Wyden is taking partial credit for provisions to lower the cost of prescriptions for Medicare recipients, saying he was one of the primary architects of that section and has worked on the issue for years, "Obviously, big pharma is going to fight this every step of the way. They’ve already announced that they’re going to fight any efforts. Our bill will now go to the House and we anticipate it will be passing. And Big Pharma is still going to try to tie it up in the courts, in the state legislatures and administrative agencies." If signed by the President, Wyden says next year, Medicare will select the first 10 drugs and begin negotiating costs, they’ll start with medications for arthritis and cancer.
He told reporters Monday, "What’s on offer here are lower healthcare costs for seniors, lower carbon emissions, help for working families - like their premiums, beefing up the fight against wealthy tax cheats."
