Build Back Better will lower costs for families, seniors, and workers

Nearly all major economies are facing significant inflationary pressures across the globe, however, as a recent OECD report showed, the U.S. economy is recovering faster than every other advanced economy in the world. The U.S. has done this by investing in the middle class. As a result, working families who have seen their savings increase and most workers have seen their wages outstrip inflation over the past two years. The Biden agenda is having a major impact, but there is more work to do.

The Build Back Better Act will save workers, families, and seniors thousands of dollars and today’s CPI report should not be seen as a reason not to pass Build Back Better; it bears repeating that Build Back Better will not add to inflation. In fact, cost pressures are exactly why it is so important that the Senate passes the Build Back Better Act to extend tax cuts for families so they have more money in their pockets, create new jobs, raise wages and cut costs for child care, housing and health care — expenses that have been rising quickly and squeezing families for decades.

Major cost savings in President Biden’s Build Back Better Act:

• Helping parents with the costs of raising children by continuing the Child Tax Credit (CTC) which provides $250 every month per child over 6and $300 every month per child under 6 — reducing child poverty nearly in half, and ensuring that the lowest-income families are permanently eligible for the full benefit. In fact, the expanded CTC would benefit nearly 90 percent of children.
• Giving parents of young children economic relief by establishing universal preschool. Build Back Better makes it free, saving the average family of a preschooler $8,600 a year per child.
• Ensuring that child care is accessible and affordable for all families in America. Investments in child care will lower a typical families’ annual child care costs by around $5,000 to $6,500 per infant or toddler.
• Boosting the incomes of over 17 million low-income working adults without children, through the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which provides a tax cut worth up to $1,500 annually.
• Making prescription drug prices more affordable. Out of pocket prescription drug expenses for seniors and people with disabilities will be capped at $2,000 annually, but currently millions of seniors pay $6,000 out of pocket expenses for prescription drugs, saving Medicare users who reach their cap $4000 a year. Further, insulin costs will be capped at $35 per month, while currently diabetics pay up to $1,000 per month for insulin, this will save some diabetics more than $11,500 a year.
• Expanding health insurance coverage to millions more Americans. This will help reduce health care costs, and save thousands of lives each year. People enrolled in ACA marketplace plans will save an average of $600 annually.
• Making historic investments in maternal health care to help address our country’s maternal mortality crisis and ensure that anyone who gives birth has access to high quality and comprehensive care.
• Saving the average family $500 annually on energy costs through investments in clean electricity and energy efficiency by 2030.
• Making big corporations start paying their fair share in taxes and invest those resources to lift up working people, by creating a paid family and medical leave program and raising wages for child care and home-care workers.