RELEASE: Gov. Whitmer Signs Executive Directive Utilizing the Inflation Reduction Act to Lower Costs for Michigan Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 6, 2022

Gov. Whitmer Signs Executive Directive Utilizing the Inflation Reduction Act to Lower Costs for Michigan Families

Directive will harness recently signed Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy for Michiganders

LANSING, Mich. – Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive to lower costs for families by ensuring Michigan takes advantage of tax credits and other opportunities in the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as effectively as possible. This directive will ensure Michigan’s state departments and agencies use every tool in their toolboxes to pass savings on to Michiganders, expanding on Whitmer’s work to lower costs for families across the state. The IRA will lower the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy, offer a middle-class tax credit to help families buy electric vehicles made in Michigan, and create millions of manufacturing jobs.

“Today, I am building on my actions to lower costs for Michiganders. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy, and I am taking action today to ensure that families have the information and resources they need to fully harness its benefits,” said Governor Whitmer. “With this action, we can help families fully harness the IRA. Michigan seniors on Medicare will have their prescription drug costs capped at $2,000 a year—no matter how many prescriptions they have—and insulin capped at $35 a month. We will also help save over 300,000 Michiganders nearly $800 a year on premiums. All families will save at least $500 a year on energy costs and middle-class Michiganders will get thousands of dollars in tax credits for buying electric vehicles made right here in Michigan. These provisions to lower costs and put money in people’s pockets are a great step forward and we will work hard to make sure Michiganders can see and feel the benefits of the IRA. Tough times don’t last, but tough people do, and it is time they got some relief. Let’s get it done.”

Lower Costs for Families Executive Directive

With this executive directive, Governor Whitmer is ensuring Michigan families are positioned to take full advantage of the IRA to lower their costs. Michiganders need real relief right now as they face high prices on everyday essentials. Over the last few years, Governor Whitmer has worked across the aisle to lower the costs of child care, higher education and skills training, car insurance, health care, and prescription drugs. She has also proposed cutting taxes, offering rebates, and increasing tax credits to put more money in people’s pockets. This includes her proposal to roll back the retirement tax, create a $2,500 rebate for electric vehicles, send working families $500 rebate checks from the state budget surplus, and triple the Earned Income Tax Credit to directly benefit 730,000 working families, including half the children in Michigan.

The executive directive includes the following provisions:

State departments and agencies must develop consumer-facing material to ensure Michiganders are aware of all opportunities to lower costs on home improvements, energy upgrades, electric vehicles and transportation, and prescription drugs and other health care costs.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) should ensure that the roughly 220,000+ eligible Michiganders have the information they need to apply for and receive tax credits available to offset the costs of health insurance purchased on the marketplace.
DHHS should continue efforts to decrease the cost of prescription drugs for Michigan Medicaid recipients, including through the negotiation of additional value-based purchasing agreements.
The Department of Environment Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) should work with other state departments to build a plan to help Michiganders utilize federal rebate programs to make energy and home improvements and lower their energy costs.

The full executive directive can be found here.

Further announcements on the governor’s efforts to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act for Michiganders will come in the days ahead.

Inflation Reduction Act Background

Lowers prescription drug costs for seniors: Out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare will be capped at $2,000 a year, saving roughly 1 million people about $1,000 each year. Insulin costs for Medicare are capped at $35 per month.

Lowers health care costs: Extends subsidies under the Affordable Care Act for 13 million people, saving them an average of $800 per year on premiums. Prevents 3 million people from losing their insurance.

Lowers energy costs: Helps Michigan families switch to cheaper, cleaner electricity, cutting their bills by $500 a year. All homes, even those who do not make the switch to clean energy, will see lower prices. Offers middle-class Americans tax credits for buying electric vehicles made in North America.

Creates Michigan jobs: Builds and refurbishes factories, creates millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs, and helps Michiganders build electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and so much more.

Cuts the deficit by $300 billion: A fiscally-responsible investment to secure America’s financial future.

Ensures billion-dollar-corporations pay more than $0 in income taxes: Enacts a 15% minimum tax for corporations that make over $1 billion in annual profits, many of whom currently pay 0%.

Invests in communities: Funds infrastructure improvements and projects to reduce air and water pollution, protect natural resources.

Governor Whitmer’s Fiscally-Responsible Leadership

Since taking office, Governor Whitmer has signed 4 balanced, bipartisan budgets. She has paid down nearly $14 billion in debt, not raised taxes on working families by a dime, cut taxes for small business owners, and enacted economic development legislation empowering the state to compete for billions in investment and tens of thousands of jobs. Thanks to the governor’s strong, fiscally-responsible leadership, Michigan received its first credit rating upgrade from Fitch, a national financial firm, in a decade.

Governor Whitmer’s Actions to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs & Expand Health Care

Governor Whitmer has signed bipartisan legislation to protect Michiganders against surprise medical billing, lower the cost of prescription drugs by increasing pharmacy oversight, and foster more competitive health care pricing by increasing transparency. She worked across the aisle to extend Healthy Michigan to over 1 million Michiganders, expand access to telemedicine, and improve dental care for Michiganders covered by Medicaid.

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