SB2224eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2224 Engrossed LRB096 11427 DRJ 21897 b

AN ACT concerning aging.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is amended by changing Section 5 as follows:

(320 ILCS 25/5) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 405)

Sec. 5. Procedure.

(a) In general. Claims must be filed after January 1, on forms prescribed by the Department. No claim may be filed more than one year after December 31 of the year for which the claim is filed except that claims for 1976 may be filed until December 31, 1978. The pharmaceutical assistance identification card provided for in subsection (f) of Section 4 shall be valid for a period not to exceed one year. On and after January 1, 2002, however, to enable the Department to convert coverage for a pharmaceutical assistance program participant to a State fiscal year basis, a card shall be valid for a longer or shorter period than 12 months, depending on the date a timely claim is filed and as determined by the Department. All applicants for benefits under this program approved for benefits on or after July 1 but on or before December 31 of any State fiscal year are eligible for benefits through June 30 of that State fiscal year. All applicants for benefits under this program approved for benefits on or after January 1 but on or before June 30 of any State fiscal year are eligible for benefits through June 30 of the following State fiscal year.

(b) Claim is Personal. The right to file a claim under this Act shall be personal to the claimant and shall not survive his death, but such right may be exercised on behalf of a claimant by his legal guardian or attorney-in-fact. If a claimant dies after having filed a timely claim, the amount thereof shall be disbursed to his surviving spouse or, if no spouse survives, to his surviving dependent minor children in equal parts, provided the spouse or child, as the case may be, resided with the claimant at the time he filed his claim. If at the time of disbursement neither the claimant nor his spouse is surviving, and no dependent minor children of the claimant are surviving the amount of the claim shall escheat to the State.

(c) One claim per household. Only one member of a household may file a claim under this Act in any calendar year; where both members of a household are otherwise entitled to claim a grant under this Act, they must agree as to which of them will file a claim for that year.

(d) Content of application form. The form prescribed by the Department for purposes of paragraph (a) shall include a table, appropriately keyed to the parts of the form on which the claimant is required to furnish information, which will enable the claimant to determine readily the approximate amount of grant to which he is entitled by relating levels of household income to property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued.

(e) Pharmaceutical Assistance Procedures. The Department shall establish the form and manner for application, and establish by January 1, 1986 a procedure to enable persons to apply for the additional grant or for the pharmaceutical assistance identification card on the same application form. The Department shall determine eligibility for pharmaceutical assistance using the applicant's current income. The Department shall determine a person's current income in the manner provided by the Department by rule.

(f) A person may not under any circumstances charge a fee to a claimant under this Act for assistance in completing an application form for a property tax relief grant or pharmaceutical assistance under this Act.

(Source: P.A. 91-533, eff. 8-13-99; 91-699, eff. 1-1-01; 92-131, eff. 7-23-01; 92-519, eff. 1-1-02.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.