Fixing the Damage: How the EPIC Act Offers Hope After the Inflation Reduction Act’s Harmful Effects
President Donald Trump wasted no time beginning to dismantle what many critics, including myself, consider one of President Joe Biden’s most damaging policies—the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order halting the IRA’s massive green energy grant programs. That move was a critical first step in rolling back a deeply flawed law, but it’s far from enough to undo the broader consequences of the IRA.
To fully mitigate the long-term damage caused by the legislation, further action is needed from Congress. One of the most straightforward and meaningful legislative responses would be passing the EPIC Act, a short but significant bill designed to remove a particularly harmful aspect of the IRA: its discouragement of pharmaceutical innovation, particularly with life-saving drugs.
If Congress includes the EPIC Act in the upcoming budget reconciliation process, it would pave the way for American scientists and researchers to continue developing the groundbreaking treatments and cures of tomorrow—without the shackles the IRA has placed on innovation.
Although the Biden administration promoted the IRA as a crucial investment in the future of the country, many Americans—including a growing number of Tennesseans—have come to see the law for what it really is: a massive spending bill that disproportionately benefited powerful Democratic interest groups. The bill earmarked around $780 billion in taxpayer dollars for the clean energy sector through 2031. Instead of helping ordinary Americans, it funneled money into corporate welfare.
However, the clean energy subsidies are just one symptom of a deeper problem. The law also had a profound and troubling impact on the healthcare system, particularly for senior citizens enrolled in Medicare Part D. The IRA’s policy changes forced insurance companies to increase premiums for beneficiaries. Rather than addressing the root causes of these increases, the Biden administration tried to cover up the damage through a “premium stabilization” initiative in the summer of 2024. This program pumped billions of taxpayer dollars into insurance companies to conceal the rising costs caused by the IRA itself. While the effort may have been an attempt to avoid a political backlash, it failed to prevent Democratic losses at the ballot box—and it committed the federal government to spending billions more every year moving forward.
One of the most controversial and potentially harmful features of the IRA was the unprecedented power it gave Medicare bureaucrats to negotiate—or, more accurately, demand—lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies. Though this might sound appealing at first glance, price controls often have unintended consequences, especially when it comes to innovation.
When the government imposes artificial limits on what companies can earn from a product, it discourages investment in research and development. The return on innovation is reduced, and as a result, fewer new drugs make it to market. The structure of the IRA’s price control provision only exacerbates this problem.
The law creates two categories of drugs: small molecule drugs, usually taken in pill form, and biologics, which are often injected or administered in clinical settings. Under the IRA, small molecule drugs are exempt from price negotiations for only nine years after FDA approval, while biologics get a longer, 13-year grace period.
This “pill penalty” has made pharmaceutical companies think twice about investing in new pill-based treatments. Research from the University of Chicago estimates that the disparity will result in 79 fewer new small molecule drugs over the next 20 years. That’s not just a loss for the pharmaceutical industry—that’s a loss for patients across the country. The same study estimates that this reduction in drug development will cost patients 116 million life years over that span.
This is especially troubling news for Tennessee. Our state faces some of the most serious public health challenges in the country, with alarmingly high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Tennessee also has one of the lowest life expectancy rates nationwide. In short, Tennesseans are more likely to die from chronic illnesses than residents of almost any other state.
Given these grim statistics, any policy that slows the pace of medical innovation is particularly dangerous for our state. We can’t afford to let bad federal policy limit access to new treatments that could save lives or improve quality of life.
That’s where the EPIC Act comes in. This simple, one-page bill would eliminate the pill penalty by granting all new drugs—whether they are small molecule or biologic—the same 13-year exemption from Medicare price controls. This change would level the playing field and remove the disincentive currently driving pharmaceutical companies away from developing pill-based treatments.
Passing the EPIC Act wouldn’t solve every problem associated with the IRA, but it would be a crucial first step toward repairing the damage. It would send a strong message that Congress is willing to support innovation and prioritize patient outcomes over politics and bureaucratic control.
Senator Bill Hagerty, representing Tennessee, should be a leading voice in pushing for this change. His support for the EPIC Act would signal a commitment to the health and well-being of Tennesseans and help restore balance to a system that currently penalizes the very innovations we need most.
The IRA may have been sold as progress, but for too many Americans—especially those in Tennessee—it has been a setback. The EPIC Act offers a real opportunity to reverse some of that harm and put us back on the path toward longer, healthier lives.
