In a major victory for Biden, US Senate passes $750bn healthcare and climate bill 

The US Senate has passed Democrats-endorsed $750 billion health care, tax and climate bill, in a major victory for President Joe Biden ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.

After a 27-hour marathon discussion over the weekend where the Republicans tried to derail the package, the Senate on Sunday approved the legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act by a 51-50 party line vote with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.

The bill will be tabled next in the Democrat-controlled House, which is expected to take on Friday. After it gets passed, the bill will be sent to the White House for Biden’s signature. In a statement, Biden said he looked forward to signing the bill into law.

“Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests. I ran for President promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does — period,” Biden said in a statement from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

He urged the House to pass the bill as soon as possible. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber would “move swiftly to send this bill to the president’s desk.”

The legislation, if signed into law, would allocate $369 billion to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in renewable energy sources.

Further, it will lower healthcare costs for millions of Americans by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and capping Medicare recipients’ out-of-pocket prescription drug prices at $2,000 a year.

Those who receive health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are also expected to see lower premium costs.

The bill also proposes a new corporate minimum tax, a 1 per cent excise tax on stock buybacks and stricter enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service.