Washington, D.C. — August 29, 2023 — As part of its Commitment to Seniors initiative, American Commitment released a new national survey conducted among 800 likely voters who are 55 and older. The poll was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates. The findings highlight older Americans’ views on the Inflation Reduction (IRA) one year after its passage, including the IRA’s changes to Medicare and the legislation’s impact on their personal finances and healthcare costs. Key findings include:
- Above 80% believe the IRA has not directly helped them personally in terms of lowering the impact of inflation, consumer costs, and prescription drug prices.
- Nearly 75% believe the IRA turned out to be something different than what supporters said it would be, and who would benefit, due to politicians prioritizing climate spending and green energy tax breaks over measures to lower consumer prices and healthcare costs.
- More than 90% believe the IRA’s Medicare drug savings should first be applied toward reducing Medicare beneficiaries’ drug costs instead of diverting funds toward unrelated spending.
- Nearly 85% claimed prices they pay for consumer goods like food, clothing, utilities, etc., actually increased in the year following the passage of the IRA.
- Over 80% stated that since last year, prices for their prescription drugs and health insurance either increased or stayed the same, respectively, after enactment of the spending bill, with only around 10% seeing any decreases in costs.
- Almost 45% believe politicians benefited the most from the IRA spending bill, followed by roughly 22% for climate spending programs, 11% for electric vehicle makers, 10% for health insurance companies, and just 6% for older Americans, 5% for families and 4% for consumers.
- Ultimately, nearly 80% of older Americans view the Inflation Reduction Act as a failure one year after the passage of the legislation.
“The Biden White House is holding a celebration for a bill that older Americans overwhelmingly have experienced as a failure,” said Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment. “While the Democrats’ spending bill was presented as a means to lower consumer prices and seniors’ healthcare costs, likely voters believe it has done the opposite. Furthermore, older Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to diverting hundreds of billions of dollars in projected Medicare savings to pay for and prioritize Washington politicians’ unrelated spending priorities. The IRA was a classic ‘bait n switch’ by liberals in Congress, and conservatives should stay on offense against it.”
“From consumer prices to healthcare, it is abundantly clear that older Americans view the Inflation Reduction Act as a complete failure,” said Jim McLaughlin, President and Partner of McLaughlin & Associates. “Liberal politicians’ turned this spending bill into a cruel jest, as hundreds of billions in Medicare funds intended for older Americans’ well-being have been squandered on costly Green New Deal fantasies and handouts to big health insurers. From this data, the 2024 campaign commercials can almost write themselves.”
Poll results can be found on the website for the Commitment to Seniors project:
Reprinted with Permission from ComittmentToSeniors.Org – By Stephen Manfredi
Well first off, the IRA has NOTHING to do with reducing inflation. It’s purely a climate change bill, with a little bit more aggressive regulations added in to help push the whole “green agenda” along. If the author of this article had bothered to read the actual IRA bill anytime over the last year, he would have known all that and saved himself the trouble of writing what amounts to a worthless article predicated on an erroneous assumption that the IRA bill was about inflation.
If anyone out there was expecting some help dealing with inflation from a bill that was intentionally mislabeled by the Democrats to get 19 or 20 Senate RINOs on board to help pass it, you haven’t been paying attention. Ignorance is NOT bliss and usually ends up being very costly in more ways than one. So bottom line, don’t look to the IRA, which actually will result in higher energy prices, food prices, and across the board more inflation to help you offset the higher rate of inflation brought to you by the Marxist policies of Democrats. It’s just another massive transfer of private wealth to the government to feed the beast.
What you CAN look forward to, as a result of the IRA, is our energy, transportation and food costs rising ever closer to matching the same failed green experiment results that has been transpiring all across Western Europe for more than a decade. All we’re missing is the rolling black outs and brown outs nation-wide as the energy supplies are curtailed and the energy grid is overtaxed. If you want to put a positive spin on the whole thing, just think of it as we’re catching up or achieving “equity” with our long-suffering compatriots across the pond by repeating all their mistakes.
Interesting article.
IRA should be IIA (Inflation Increase Act) as I have said since Day 1 BEFORE it was passed.
Get ready for OUTRAGEOUS Utility Bills this Winter since Dictator Beijing biden KILLED our Energy Independence and KILLED ALL ENERGY PRODUCTION THROUGH 2024. Another reward from the INFLATION INCREASE ACT (IRA).
You can thank the democrats for this and their anti-American policies/agenda.
Biden would not know Inflation Reduction if it were staring him in the face. He is out to ruin this country and has so far been successful in his efforts in his time in office. I believe he is fully aware of what he is doing dispite his moments of cognitive decline. He MUST be removed from office.
Seniors, I remind you again your vote is your voice. I would like to add you may influence other votes. I mean your family. Your children may not like what is happening to Mom and Dad.
Is anyone truly expecting a bill meant to really help anyone who needs the help? Has there ever been such bill passed?
The socialist liberal left are adept at creating a problem, then making it worse.
Common Sense PROVES that INFLATION INCREASES the MORE that the GOVERNMENT SPENDS! It’s being REPORTED, the Average American Family is SPENDING $800 MORE PER MONTH for FOOD, GAS and HOUSING COSTS! So no matter how much the Biden Administration CLAIMS DIFFERENTLY, it’s just MORE LIES and 70%+ American People KNOW IT!
The Inflation Reduction Act was a Biden Administration slight of hand and had nothing to do with inflation. Only total fools fell for the false labeling of this act. Biden is a willing puppet of the far Left and foreign interests. That is becoming clearer even to fools every day. Older Americans should be ashamed of how foolish they have been. Eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear are a pathway to American destruction.
This was obvious last year when they passed this abomination that it was just another Democrat waste-of-money-to -buy-votes spending bill… So I am not surprised.
The IRS is just one more example that you can not trust the Democrats. They are spending us into a financial abyss. Vote for politicians who will reduce federal spending.
i agree with all of the findings mentioned in the article. to put it bluntly , WE GOT HOSED.
Literally everything I pay for just to maintain my life costs me more due to the Biden regimes actions. I have to work to subsidize my Social Security. Since I now work, 85% of my Social Security “benefits” are now taxed…AND…I have to continue paying into Social Security even though I am collecting Social Security. We elderly are punished for working.
Gee what a shock that a government bill called the “Inflation Reduction Act” did nothing to reduce inflationary costs! Can’t wait to see how much pork is in that “Maui Relief Act” soon to be…
Greed, greed and more greed defines DC politicians 99% of the time. With all that’s been uncovered about Biden family, I can’t believe he’s still in the WH. But then again, it isn’t him making decisions. The whole world knows that as fact. But YET he’s still POTUS in name only.
Troll of many names, would it really kill you to GET A JOB?
We are moving ever closer to a major conflict in this country. When one party controls the majority of the government, Senate, Presidency and the Justice Department without regard to the will and wants of the American people there will be consequences. History repeats itself.
As I have predicted but not so accurately as this poll. My social democratic representative has repeatedly lied exposed the legitimacy of this act on the American people. Some day, soon I hope, more Americans will wake up to the fact that the big tent party is there to crush them. They are the party of devision not unity. The party of power over the people.
Well written. CHRIS
This is my shocked face! All together now, in 1, 2, 3, ….Duuuuuhhhhh! Remember Obamalamadingdong’s “Affordable Care Act” that in truth of advertising should have been called the “Obama Doesn’t Care Act”? Democrat bills always do the opposite of what their title claims, how else would they ever get their anti-American agenda passed in these United States of America? No one would vote for the Inflation Sky Rocketing Act, or the Bankrupt New Deal, at least they would not get to even pretend brag at their townhalls about having voted for it without boos from the constituency.
I’m a diabetic, the Inflation Reduction Act has helped me a lot, insulin is actually affordable now.
WTF would Ben Shapiro know about anything being “cool”? That being said the Burning Man gatherings have always been despicable. Everything about the “celebration” is disgusting and whatever “it” is got co-opted in its second year in the Nevada desert.
Let the folks there wallow in the mud but do not pay a PENNY for any assistance for the moronic perverts.
It is actually a great bill that has lowered the cost on healthcare in multiple ways. Reports already show people on Medicare filled more insulin RX due to the $35 cap. Vaccines are free for people on Medicare, there is a penalty for companies raising drug prices faster than inflation, a $2,000 out of pocket cap on Medicare, they can begin to negotiate RX prices soon, and it has saved the average person $800 a year on ACA premiums