CHICAGO – Joanne Capretti is in a fix. The 78-year-old widow needs an inhaler to breathe well enough to continue working part-time as a restaurant hostess, which supplements her paltry Social Security retirement benefits.

But she's worried she can't afford her medication anymore. Her out-of-pocket cost has more than doubled since July 1, when Illinois ended a program that helped her and thousands of other seniors buy prescription drugs.

"I can't quit working because then I won't be able to eat," said Capretti, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Lynwood. "I don't understand it. The older people don't get nothing and now they're getting less ... What am I going to do?"