WASHINGTON — The Bush administration promised on Thursday to provide new protections for low-income Medicare beneficiaries to ensure they can get prescription drugs promptly, at minimal cost. The promise came in the proposed settlement of a nationwide class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people who have had difficulty getting the medicines they need. Under the 2003 Medicare law, more than six million people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid are entitled to extra help with their drug costs. But in many cases, they could not get the assistance, so they did not receive the drugs they needed, or they experienced long delays. In early 2006, low-income beneficiaries were often overcharged, and some were turned away from pharmacies without getting their medications. Several states declared public health emergencies, and many stepped in to pay for prescriptions that should have been covered by the federal Medicare program. Under the proposed settlement, filed Thursday with the United States District Court in San Francisco, federal Medicare officials promised to speed up the process of providing extra help to low-income people, who now could qualify within days, rather than weeks or months. Drug benefits are delivered […]