By Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Democrats have reached a deal among themselves on a bill allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for seniors, an aide for Senator Joe Manchin said on Wednesday.
“Senator Manchin has long advocated for proposals that would lower prescription drug costs for seniors and his support for this proposal has never been in question. He’s glad that all 50 Democrats agree,” Sam Runyon, Manchin’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
Democrats plan to invoke special rules that allow them to pass the package with a simple majority, rather than the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation.
The deal will have to be approved by the Senate parliamentarian in order to qualify for that treatment.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Moira Warburton in Miami; editing by Andy Sullivan and Chizu Nomiyama)
