Senator Casey’s Work Lowering Costs for Pennsylvania Families

U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Children and Families Subcommittee Chairman Casey held a hearing that highlighted how greedflation places unfair burdens on American children and families. In the hearing, Casey spotlighted four reports that he has released detailing how corporate greed led to higher prices and record corporate profits while American families struggle to pay for their everyday necessities. Pennsylvanians Erin Wiggle and Daniel Lee testified about the impact of greedflation on their budgets.

Senator Casey released his fourth greedflation report, “Additional Charges May Apply: How Big Corporations Use Hidden Fees to Nickel, Dime, and Deceive American Families,” detailing how big corporations are tacking on excessive fees at the tail end of everyday purchases, from internet plans to ATM withdrawals.    

Senator Casey, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children & Families, released a report detailing how big corporations are using inflation as cover to raise prices and rake in record profits at the expense of middle-class American families. Senator Casey called for addressing greedflation by putting more money in the pockets of working families, making big corporations pay their fair share, fighting unfair corporate price gouging, and taking on corporate monopolies to increase competition and lower costs.

The Biden Administration announced the first ten drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations, made possible by Senator Casey’s support of the Inflation Reduction Act. The drugs are Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and Fiasp/Fiasp FlexTouch/Fiasp PenFill/NovoLog/NovoLog FlexPen/NovoLog PenFill.

Senator Casey joined 41 of his colleagues to introduce the Child Care for Working Families Act to reduce the cost of child care for families. This bill would ensure that families can afford the child care they need, expand access to more high-quality child care options, and ensure that child care providers are paid livable wages. Through this bill, a typical American family would pay no more than $10 per day on child care, and many families would not pay anything for care.

Senator Casey joined 16 of his colleagues to reintroduce the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act to curb profiteering by oil companies and provide Americans relief at the gas pump.

Senator Casey voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act, which:
• Allowed Medicare, for the first time, to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.
• Capped insulin costs for seniors with Medicare Part D at $35/month.
• Capped Medicare Part D out-of-pocket costs for seniors at $2,000/year.
• Expanded cost-sharing assistance for low-income seniors with Medicare, which Senator Casey championed through his Lowering Medicare Premiums and Prescription Drug Costs Act.
• Protected Medicare beneficiaries who take Part B drugs (such as physician-administered infusions and injections used to treat cancer and rheumatoid arthritis) if manufacturers continue price increases at rates that outpace inflation by reducing coinsurance for Medicare beneficiaries taking these same medications.
• Extended the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits originally passed as part of the American Rescue Plan. This saves the average family of four with an ACA plan and a household income of $75,000 around $248/month.
• Provided a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing a new clean energy vehicle made in North America.
• Provided $8.8 billion in consumer home energy rebate programs.
• Permanent extension of the Black Lung Trust Fund that would ensure that the trust fund stays permanently solvent so coal miners suffering from black lung disease and their families have reliable access to the quality medical care they need.
• Awarded over $300 billion in tax credits to expand domestic clean energy production, which will lower Americans’ energy bills, create energy jobs, and produce cleaner air and water. 
• Contained Casey-led provisions to lower the cost of building new energy infrastructure with American domestic content, strengthening American supply chains for steel, iron, and manufactured goods.
• Contained Casey-led provisions that make it cheaper to develop new energy properties in current and former gas and coal communities, and sets aside billions in tax credits for new manufacturing operations in coal communities.
• Beginning in 2024, will provide thousands in rebates to families who buy new furnaces, windows, heat pumps, and insulation that will improve home energy efficiency.   

Senator Casey was an original cosponsor of the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund Act, which would extend the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund for ten years. The bill, with a permanent trust fund extension, later became part of the Inflation Reduction Act and was signed into law.

Senator Casey introduced the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Act to help families pay for the costs of child care. This legislation became law as part of the American Rescue Plan on March 11, 2021. In 2021, this nearly quadrupled the average Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) per family from $593 to $2,158, and also allowed low-income families to claim the credit for the first time, savings millions of Americans over $1,000 on care costs.