Don’t be fooled by the name — what a bill claims to do and what it actually does are often very different. That’s certainly the case with the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”

While the IRA promised savings for Americans, what we’ve seen instead are higher premiums, reduced access for patients, and a chilling effect on medical innovation that could hurt us for years to come. When drug manufacturers are forced to navigate arbitrary price caps and government red tape, they’re less likely to invest in the next breakthrough. That means fewer new life-saving treatments for cancer, diabetes, and rare diseases.

Just days before congressional Democrats passed the IRA back in 2022, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee warned that “this bill will not reduce inflation.” Lee said the IRA’s price controls and access restrictions on Medicare prescription drugs would “ultimately result in the shortening of American lives.

Sadly, his predictions have proven correct.

Not only did the price of goods and services keep rising for the rest of Biden’s tenure, but the law’s restructuring of Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit sent seniors’ insurance premiums through the roof. In 2024, the average monthly premium soared by more than 21%. Premiums would have increased even more for 2025 if the previous administration hadn’t thrown billions of dollars in additional subsidies at the problem.

Democrats pledged that the Inflation Reduction Act would result in seniors paying less for prescription drugs. But in addition to the premium hikes, the law will cause out-of-pocket costs for 3.5 million seniors to actually rise, according to an analysis by risk consulting firm Milliman.

Utahns are sure to feel those increases, where more than 129,000 seniors purchase their prescription drugs using Medicare Part D.

Rising medical costs aren’t the only worrying result of the Inflation Reduction Act. The law also funnels hundreds of billions of dollars towards Democrats’ pet climate priorities — from wind and solar power to electric vehicles. China is already taking advantage of these generous subsidies. According to one analysis, Chinese manufacturers could absorb up to $125 billion in U.S. renewable energy tax credits — making a buck off the American taxpayer.

For Lee and his colleagues, reversing all the damage done by Biden’s signature bill will be a step-by-step process. But there’s a way they can start to dismantle it right away: By reversing the harmful effects of the law’s price caps.

The law authorizes Medicare to impose price controls on a new batch of prescription drugs every year. Novel medicines are exempt for a period of time after they come on the market.

That period varies in length according to the type of medicine. “Biologic” drugs, typically administered in health care facilities, are exempt for 13 years after approval. The grace period for “small-molecule” drugs — typically taken at home as capsules or tablets — is just nine years.

Thanks to this so-called “pill penalty,” drug manufacturers are now favoring biologics over small-molecule drugs, because the former give them more time to recoup their substantial investments in research and development. One study found that the price-cap discrepancy could result in 188 fewer new small-molecule drugs coming to market over the next two decades. This could have deadly effects on patients waiting for new medicines to treat diabetes, cancer, and many other conditions.

Now that we finally have a Republican-controlled Congress, lawmakers have a shot at reversing one of the IRA’s most dangerous effects. A new bill, the EPIC Act, would remove the pill penalty entirely — thus making biologics and small-molecule drugs similarly attractive to drug developers.

There’s a way to pass the EPIC Act quickly. By adding it to the first budget reconciliation package, Republicans can get the bill signed into law within months, which would be a triumph for the first phase of the Trump presidency.

This would be a win for the nation and for Utah. The Beehive State’s biopharmaceutical sector supports more than 80,000 jobs, and we have 11 drug manufacturing plants. Price controls would do grievous harm to these companies.

Utahns are counting on Lee to put his weight behind the EPIC Act during the reconciliation process. He and his fellow legislators can then turn to reversing other components of the Inflation Reduction Act — paving the way to repealing the whole mess. As Lee said himself, “you certainly shouldn’t judge this bill by its title.”

It’s time to stop Democrats’ sprawling, dangerous law from hurting our state economy and stealing hope from American patients.

Frances Floresca is a Utah native and graduate of the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. She is a policy analyst, commentator and columnist whose work has been featured by Townhall, The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal, Fox News Radio and The Washington Examiner.