FACT SHEET: How the Inflation Reduction Act Helps Rural Communities in Georgia

For Georgia’s rural families and farmers, President Biden and Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act will lower health care, prescription drug, and energy costs, provide aid to economically distressed farmers, and more. 

All eight of Georgia’s congressional Republicans voted against the overwhelmingly popular bill that will lower energy and health care costs, allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs, and reduce the deficit — all without raising taxes a single cent on any Georgian making less than $400,000 a year.

How the Inflation Reduction Act helps Georgia’s rural communities:

Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors in Rural Georgia:

• Because seniors disproportionately choose to live in rural America, rural Americans stand to disproportionately benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act as it lowers prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. 
• Today, Americans pay 2-3 times more for their prescription drugs than people in other wealthy countries. The Inflation Reduction Act increases access to medications in rural areas by improving prescription drug coverage and lowering drug prices in Medicare.

Lowering Health Insurance Premiums and Expanding Rural Health Coverage: 

• Since the implementation of the ACA’s coverage expansions, the uninsured rate among rural Americans decreased by 8%, from about 24% in 2010 to 16% in 2019. The Inflation Reduction Act continues the American Rescue Plan’s Affordable Care Act premium tax credits: 
  • In 2021, 65% (1.3 million) of the 1.9 million rural uninsured Americans in states using the HealthCare.gov had access to a $0-premium health insurance plan, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. 
  • The Inflation Reduction Act will help keep free or low-cost health insurance available to rural Americans, with average savings of about $800 per person per year. As a result, about 3 million more Americans will have health insurance coverage next year, compared to without the Inflation Reduction Act.

Support for Farmers, Ranchers, and Forest Landowners: The Inflation Reduction Act recognizes the critical role that America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners play in addressing the climate crisis, along with the extent to which many have experienced discrimination in USDA’s lending programs. That’s why this legislation includes:

• Investments in helping farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners deploy climate-smart practices that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase storage of carbon in soils and trees, and make their operations more productive.
• $3.1 billion to support farmers in Georgia and across the nation who are economically distressed and most at-risk of losing their farms, as well as $2.2 billion for farmers who have suffered historical discrimination in federal farm loan programs.
• $14 billion focused on clean energy in rural communities, including support for rural electric cooperatives transitioning to clean energy and investments in the domestic production of biofuels, including infrastructure needed for sustainable aviation fuel and other biofuels.

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