093_HB2922

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to aging.

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

 4        Section  5.  The  Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
 5    changing Section 4.02 as follows:

 6        (20 ILCS 105/4.02) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.02)
 7        Sec. 4.02.  The Department shall establish a  program  of
 8    services   to  prevent  unnecessary  institutionalization  of
 9    persons age 60 and older in need of long term care or who are
10    established as persons who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or
11    a related disorder under the Alzheimer's  Disease  Assistance
12    Act, thereby enabling them to remain in their own homes or in
13    other  living  arrangements.  Such preventive services, which
14    may be coordinated with  other  programs  for  the  aged  and
15    monitored  by  area agencies on aging in cooperation with the
16    Department, may include, but are not limited to, any  or  all
17    of the following:
18             (a)  home health services;
19             (b)  home nursing services;
20             (c)  homemaker services;
21             (d)  chore and housekeeping services;
22             (e)  day care services;
23             (f)  home-delivered meals;
24             (g)  education in self-care;
25             (h)  personal care services;
26             (i)  adult day health services;
27             (j)  habilitation services;
28             (k)  respite care;
29             (l)  other   nonmedical  social  services  that  may
30        enable the person to become self-supporting; or
31             (m)  clearinghouse  for  information   provided   by
 
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 1        senior  citizen  home owners who want to rent rooms to or
 2        share living space with other senior citizens.
 3        The Department shall establish eligibility standards  for
 4    such  services  taking into consideration the unique economic
 5    and social needs of the target population for whom  they  are
 6    to  be  provided.  The  eligibility  standards must include a
 7    provision that,  to  be  eligible  for  services  under  this
 8    Section,   a   person   may   not  have  assets  (other  than
 9    specifically exempt assets) totaling more than $20,000 if:
10             (1) the person is unmarried; or
11             (2)  the  person  is  married  and  the   Department
12        determines that:
13                  (A) the person's spouse receives services under
14             this Section; or
15                  (B)  the  person's  spouse resides in a skilled
16             nursing or intermediate long-term care facility that
17             is subject to licensure by the Department of  Public
18             Health under the Nursing Home Care Act; or
19                  (C)  the  person's  spouse does not reside on a
20             permanent basis with the person and does not receive
21             support from or give support to the person; or
22                  (D) the person has been abandoned by his or her
23             spouse; or
24                  (E) the person has been the subject of a report
25             of abuse (as defined in the Elder Abuse and  Neglect
26             Act) by his or her spouse.
27        Notwithstanding  the preceding paragraph, the eligibility
28    standards must also include a provision that, to be  eligible
29    for  services under this Section, a person who is married and
30    whose spouse does not receive services under this Section may
31    not have  assets  (other  than  specifically  exempt  assets)
32    totaling  more  than  the  asset disregard amount used by the
33    Department of  Public  Aid  in  determining  eligibility  for
34    medical assistance under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid
 
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 1    Code.
 2        Such   eligibility   standards  shall  be  based  on  the
 3    recipient's ability to pay for services;  provided,  however,
 4    that  in  determining  the  amount and nature of services for
 5    which a person may qualify, consideration shall not be  given
 6    to  the  value  of cash, property or other assets held in the
 7    name of the person's spouse pursuant to a  written  agreement
 8    dividing  marital  property into equal but separate shares or
 9    pursuant to a transfer of the person's interest in a home  to
10    his  spouse,  provided that the spouse's share of the marital
11    property is not made available to  the  person  seeking  such
12    services.
13        Beginning July 1, 2002, the Department shall require as a
14    condition  of  eligibility that all applicants and recipients
15    apply for medical assistance under Article V of the  Illinois
16    Public  Aid  Code in accordance with rules promulgated by the
17    Department.
18        The Department shall, in conjunction with the  Department
19    of  Public  Aid,  seek  appropriate amendments under Sections
20    1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act.  The purpose of the
21    amendments shall  be  to  extend  eligibility  for  home  and
22    community  based services under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the
23    Social Security Act to persons who transfer  to  or  for  the
24    benefit  of  a  spouse  those amounts of income and resources
25    allowed under  Section  1924  of  the  Social  Security  Act.
26    Subject  to  the  approval of such amendments, the Department
27    shall extend the provisions of Section 5-4  of  the  Illinois
28    Public Aid Code to persons who, but for the provision of home
29    or  community-based services, would require the level of care
30    provided in an institution, as is  provided  for  in  federal
31    law.   Those  persons  no  longer  found  to  be eligible for
32    receiving noninstitutional services due  to  changes  in  the
33    eligibility  criteria  shall be given 60 days notice prior to
34    actual  termination.   Those  persons  receiving  notice   of
 
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 1    termination  may  contact  the  Department  and  request  the
 2    determination  be  appealed  at  any  time  during the 60 day
 3    notice period.  With the exception of the  lengthened  notice
 4    and  time  frame  for  the appeal request, the appeal process
 5    shall follow the normal procedure.  In addition, each  person
 6    affected  regardless  of  the  circumstances for discontinued
 7    eligibility shall be given  notice  and  the  opportunity  to
 8    purchase  the  necessary  services through the Community Care
 9    Program.  If  the  individual  does  not  elect  to  purchase
10    services,  the  Department  shall  advise  the  individual of
11    alternative services.  The target population  identified  for
12    the  purposes  of  this  Section are persons age 60 and older
13    with an identified service need.  Priority shall be given  to
14    those  who are at imminent risk of institutionalization.  The
15    services shall be provided to eligible  persons  age  60  and
16    older  to  the  extent that the cost of the services together
17    with the other personal maintenance expenses of  the  persons
18    are  reasonably related to the standards established for care
19    in a group facility appropriate to  the  person's  condition.
20    These   non-institutional   services,   pilot   projects   or
21    experimental  facilities  may  be  provided  as part of or in
22    addition to those authorized by federal law or  those  funded
23    and  administered  by  the Department of Human Services.  The
24    Departments of Human Services,  Public  Aid,  Public  Health,
25    Veterans'  Affairs,  and  Commerce  and Community Affairs and
26    other  appropriate  agencies  of  State,  federal  and  local
27    governments shall cooperate with the Department on  Aging  in
28    the  establishment  and  development of the non-institutional
29    services.  The Department shall require an annual audit  from
30    all chore/housekeeping and homemaker vendors contracting with
31    the  Department  under  this Section.  The annual audit shall
32    assure  that  each  audited  vendor's   procedures   are   in
33    compliance  with  Department's financial reporting guidelines
34    requiring a 27% administrative cost split and a 73%  employee
 
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 1    wages  and benefits cost split.  The audit is a public record
 2    under the Freedom of Information Act.  The  Department  shall
 3    execute,  relative  to the nursing home prescreening project,
 4    written inter-agency agreements with the Department of  Human
 5    Services  and  the  Department  of  Public Aid, to effect the
 6    following:  (1)  intake  procedures  and  common  eligibility
 7    criteria    for    those    persons    who    are   receiving
 8    non-institutional services; and  (2)  the  establishment  and
 9    development  of  non-institutional  services  in areas of the
10    State  where  they  are  not  currently  available   or   are
11    undeveloped.   On  and  after  July 1, 1996, all nursing home
12    prescreenings for individuals 60 years of age or older  shall
13    be conducted by the Department.
14        The  Department  is  authorized  to establish a system of
15    recipient copayment for services provided under this Section,
16    such copayment to be based upon the  recipient's  ability  to
17    pay  but in no case to exceed the actual cost of the services
18    provided. Additionally, any  portion  of  a  person's  income
19    which  is  equal to or less than the federal poverty standard
20    shall not be considered by the Department in determining  the
21    copayment.   The  level  of  such copayment shall be adjusted
22    whenever necessary to reflect any change  in  the  officially
23    designated federal poverty standard.
24        The    Department,   or   the   Department's   authorized
25    representative, shall recover the amount of  moneys  expended
26    for  services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
27    Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
28    estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery  may
29    be had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any,
30    and  then  only at such time when there is no surviving child
31    who is under  age  21,  blind,  or  permanently  and  totally
32    disabled.   This  paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery,
33    at the death of the person, of moneys for  services  provided
34    to  the  person or in behalf of the person under this Section
 
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 1    to which the person was  not  entitled;  provided  that  such
 2    recovery  shall not be enforced against any real estate while
 3    it is occupied as a homestead  by  the  surviving  spouse  or
 4    other  dependent,  if  no claims by other creditors have been
 5    filed against the estate, or, if such claims have been filed,
 6    they remain dormant for failure of prosecution or failure  of
 7    the  claimant  to compel administration of the estate for the
 8    purpose of payment.  This paragraph shall  not  bar  recovery
 9    from  the estate of a spouse, under Sections 1915 and 1924 of
10    the Social Security Act  and  Section  5-4  of  the  Illinois
11    Public  Aid  Code,  who  precedes a person receiving services
12    under this Section in death.  All moneys for services paid to
13    or in behalf of  the  person  under  this  Section  shall  be
14    claimed  for  recovery  from  the  deceased  spouse's estate.
15    "Homestead", as used in this paragraph,  means  the  dwelling
16    house  and  contiguous  real  estate  occupied by a surviving
17    spouse or relative, as defined by the rules  and  regulations
18    of  the  Illinois Department of Public Aid, regardless of the
19    value of the property.
20        The  Department  shall  develop  procedures  to   enhance
21    availability  of  services  on  evenings, weekends, and on an
22    emergency basis to meet  the  respite  needs  of  caregivers.
23    Procedures  shall  be  developed to permit the utilization of
24    services in successive blocks of 24 hours up to  the  monthly
25    maximum  established  by  the Department.   Workers providing
26    these services shall be appropriately trained.
27        Beginning on the effective date of this Amendatory Act of
28    1991, no person may perform chore/housekeeping and  homemaker
29    services  under  a  program authorized by this Section unless
30    that person has been issued a certificate of  pre-service  to
31    do  so  by his or her employing agency.  Information gathered
32    to effect such certification shall include (i)  the  person's
33    name,  (ii)  the  date  the  person  was  hired by his or her
34    current employer, and (iii) the training, including dates and
 
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 1    levels.  Persons engaged in the program  authorized  by  this
 2    Section  before  the effective date of this amendatory Act of
 3    1991 shall be issued a certificate of all pre- and in-service
 4    training  from  his  or  her  employer  upon  submitting  the
 5    necessary  information.   The  employing  agency   shall   be
 6    required  to  retain records of all staff pre- and in-service
 7    training, and shall provide such records  to  the  Department
 8    upon  request and upon termination of the employer's contract
 9    with the Department.  In addition, the  employing  agency  is
10    responsible  for the issuance of certifications of in-service
11    training completed to their employees.
12        The Department is required to develop a system to  ensure
13    that  persons  working  as  homemakers and chore housekeepers
14    receive increases in their wages  when  the  federal  minimum
15    wage  is  increased by requiring vendors to certify that they
16    are meeting the federal minimum wage statute  for  homemakers
17    and  chore housekeepers.  An employer that cannot ensure that
18    the minimum wage increase is being given  to  homemakers  and
19    chore   housekeepers   shall   be   denied  any  increase  in
20    reimbursement costs.
21        The Department on  Aging  and  the  Department  of  Human
22    Services shall cooperate in the development and submission of
23    an annual report on programs and services provided under this
24    Section.   Such joint report shall be filed with the Governor
25    and the General Assembly on or before September 30 each year.
26        The requirement for reporting  to  the  General  Assembly
27    shall  be  satisfied  by filing copies of the report with the
28    Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of  the  House  of
29    Representatives  and  the  President, the Minority Leader and
30    the Secretary of the  Senate  and  the  Legislative  Research
31    Unit,  as  required  by  Section  3.1 of the General Assembly
32    Organization Act  and filing such additional copies with  the
33    State  Government  Report Distribution Center for the General
34    Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section  7  of
 
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 1    the State Library Act.
 2        Those  persons  previously  found  eligible for receiving
 3    non-institutional services whose services  were  discontinued
 4    under  the  Emergency Budget Act of Fiscal Year 1992, and who
 5    do not meet the eligibility standards in effect on  or  after
 6    July  1,  1992,  shall remain ineligible on and after July 1,
 7    1992.  Those persons previously not  required  to  cost-share
 8    and  who were required to cost-share effective March 1, 1992,
 9    shall continue to meet cost-share requirements on  and  after
10    July  1,  1992.   Beginning July 1, 1992, all clients will be
11    required  to  meet   eligibility,   cost-share,   and   other
12    requirements  and  will have services discontinued or altered
13    when they fail to meet these requirements.
14    (Source: P.A.  91-303,  eff.  1-1-00;  91-798,  eff.  7-9-00;
15    92-597, eff. 6-28-02.)

16        Section  99.   Effective  date.  This Act takes effect on
17    January 1, 2004.