Illinois Congresswoman Bustos Highlights New Cost Savings for Families in Northwest and Central Illinois
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced a new report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee that shows how the policies she has championed over the last two years will lower costs for working families in Northwest and Central Illinois.
“Under President Biden, we’ve made historic investments in our families and communities that will create more American jobs and bring a brighter future,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “Today, I’m highlighting new data from the Joint Economic Committee that shows how our work is bringing down health care, prescription drug and student loan costs for folks throughout Northwest and Central Illinois.”
Cheri Bustos
The new data from the Joint Economic Committee shows that President Biden and House Democrats are:
- Cutting Health Insurance Premiums: Estimates from the Joint Economic Committee show that Congresswoman Bustos’ support for the Inflation Reduction Act is helping 13,000 people in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District access affordable health care. Without this law, these individuals would have seen their health insurance premiums rise, or faced loss of coverage altogether at the end of the year. The health insurance subsidies in this bill have reduced annual premiums by an average of $936 and reduced the national uninsured rate to a record low of 8 percent.
- Lowering Drug Prices: Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, 120,000 seniors in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District with Medicare prescription drug coverage will pay less for their medications. The new law puts an annual $2,000 cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs and ensures that Medicare beneficiaries do not pay more than $35 per month for insulin. Additionally, the law allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for some of the most expensive drugs.
- Providing Relief to Student Loan Borrowers: The Biden administration’s relief for student loan borrowers will save a typical young borrower in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District about $16,000 over the course of the loan thanks to lower monthly payments.
Among the many cost-reducing measures that Congresswoman Bustos has helped champion are the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers health care and energy costs for working families; the CHIPS and Science Act, which fixes our supply chains and makes more critical goods in America; the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, which cracks down on Big Oil companies that are making record profits; the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, which will lower farmers’ costs in the field and lower meat and poultry costs by increasing meatpacking competition; and the Child Tax Credit, where Democrats are still fighting to deliver a higher tax credit for working families with children.
While Democrats in Congress remain laser-focused on lowering costs and creating good jobs, Republicans continue to side with big corporations and billionaires over workers and families. In fact, Republicans support ending Social Security and Medicare in five years and have proposed raising taxes on middle-class families, which would make it even harder for families in Northwest and Central Illinois to make ends meet.
