How Congress overcame deep differences to pass major legislation

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• Judy Woodruff:

  President Biden's signing of the Inflation Reduction Act today comes after more than a year of negotiations among Democrats in Congress and the White House. And it caps off a summer of legislative successes.

  To bring us up to speed, we turn to our own Lisa Desjardins.

  So, Lisa, hello.

  And this is legislation that has seen quite a journey. Tell us what finally is mainly in it.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Right. There's a lot to say here.

  First, it's a noteworthy fact. I looked through the last century of what Congress has and has not passed. And, Judy, this summer's activity for this Congress is unique. In fact, we have not — I have to say it's really unprecedented in this century to see so much passed, substantive legislation, policy-changing legislation, in a midterm year.

  So I want to quickly go over what I'm talking about, what just happened this summer, all of it sometimes in a flash. But let's remind people of what Democrats passed in Congress, first this — the act that was signed today, the Inflation Reduction Act.

  Now, the size of that depends on whether or not you count the deficit reduction portion of that act, but somewhere between half-a-trillion and $700 billion. Now, we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a second.

  But also, just this month, the Senate and House passed the PACT Act — we have reported on that extensively — which extends veterans benefits, especially for those with toxic exposures. That's $300 billion about, then the CHIPS Act, or CHIPS Plus, which is a enormous bill that includes a host of science and technology incentives to try and help this country compete with China. Another $80 billion is the size of that bill.

  And don't forget, in May, that unexpected compromise over gun and safety laws, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, $13 billion in that. But, mainly, that is a real sea change, the first time in decades that Congress has passed significant gun legislation.

  Now, I want to point out something about three of these bills. The three there on the right of your screen, those were all bipartisan. And the way that the Democrats got those through largely was by allowing senators outside of leadership to negotiate amongst themselves first.

  But then let's talk about the other one, the Inflation Reduction Act. That is the largest of these bills, and obviously something we're going to be hearing a lot about this summer. How did that go through? Well, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer kept his negotiations with Joe Manchin quiet. He allowed Republicans to vote and support some of these bipartisan bills, and then sort of announced after all of that was done that he had to deal with Joe Manchin.

  That is something that Democrats are calling a victory over Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, someone who is hard to out-strategize. Republicans, for their part, say, no, this is Democrats just able to unify. Democrats have the votes. And, of course, Republicans don't like that inflation reduction bill. They say that it actually could cause problems for businesses in the taxes that it puts out.

  But the bigger point, Judy, here is, in a midterm year like this, you just sometimes you don't see any significant legislation. I could only find a couple of examples this century, the Dodd-Frank Act, McCain-Feingold. But those were just one bill. This Congress managed to pass for in a midterm year.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And thank you. I'm so glad — it's so important to have that background to put this in context, Lisa.

  But on the Inflation Reduction Act, we know part of it is going to change the way drugs — prescription drugs are priced under Medicare. Give us a sense of when that kicks in.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Right, not right away

  But, in a few months, some of these provisions will start to affect Americans on Medicare. Let's take a look at what will go in place beginning next year now.

  First, at the top of that list, the cost for insulin for those on Medicare will be capped at $35 for a monthly set of doses. Then, also, Medicare will begin collecting rebates for any drugmakers for drugs already in the system who raise their prices above inflation. So that will start copying some of those costs.

  And then, beginning next year, also, we will see vaccines, all vaccines, be available with no co-pay to anyone on Medicare. Judy, that's significant, because it's not just talking about COVID. That's talking about any kind of vaccine that a senior needs across the system. And we know that that is something that those costs sometimes prevent treatment.

  Also, Judy, we're going to see in 2023 some expanded subsidies. 2025, there will be a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket expenses. And then, in 2026, Medicare will be able to negotiate on a set of some drugs. And that will expand over the following years after that.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Oh, so important to have that information.

  Just quickly, Lisa, is it — how is it thought that all of this may factor into the fall campaigns?

  Lisa Desjardins; Right.

  You're going to hear echoes of what the president said today. They will call all of this historic. They will also say the Democrats are providing solutions and being practical, and some of them will say moderate — Judy.

• Judy Woodruff:

  All right, Lisa Desjardins giving us the historical perspective.

  Thank you, Lisa.