Deal on Capitol Hill could ease seniors' health costs

A deal on Capitol Hill that could cut prescription drug costs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries was cautiously cheered by older Americans and their advocates Thursday even as many worried it might never come to fruition.

The health care and climate agreement struck by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin includes landmark provisions that could help senior citizens, including a cap on out-of-pocket Medicare drug costs and a requirement that the government negotiate prices on some high-cost drugs.

Some of the issues addressed in the deal have been talked about for decades and proved elusive. But Manchin's backing brought new optimism to many who have lobbied and prayed for relief.

“We worry constantly, ‘Will we be able to afford this?’” said Becky Miller, a 67-year-old retired teacher from Bradenton, Florida, who spends thousands of dollars each year for drugs to treat epilepsy, heart problems and an inflammatory disease that affects her spine.

She is afraid the powerful pharmaceutical lobby might still thwart the plan, but said, “If this goes through, it will help a lot of people.”

Several prongs of the proposal have the potential to bring relief to millions of people:

— It would cap out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year for Medicare beneficiaries. No such limit exists today, and some older people on costly drugs can run up bills of tens of thousands of dollars.

— It would give Medicare, for the first time, the ability to directly negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over the price of drugs, though the number of medications subject to the provision would be limited.

— It would create a new “inflation rebate” requiring drug companies to give refunds to Medicare beneficiaries for increases in prescription drug prices that...