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91_HB4426
LRB9112568SMdvA
1 AN ACT to amend the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
2 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act by
3 changing Sections 3.15, 4, and 5.
4 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
5 represented in the General Assembly:
6 Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
7 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is
8 amended by changing Sections 3.15, 4, and 5 as follows:
9 (320 ILCS 25/3.15) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 403.15)
10 Sec. 3.15. "Covered prescription drug" means (1) any
11 cardiovascular agent or drug; (2) any insulin or other
12 prescription drug used in the treatment of diabetes,
13 including syringe and needles used to administer the insulin;
14 and (3) any prescription drug used in the treatment of
15 arthritis. The specific agents or products to be included
16 under such categories shall be listed in a handbook to be
17 prepared and distributed by the Department. The general
18 types of covered prescription drugs shall be indicated by
19 rule. The Department shall develop a procedure for the
20 coverage of brand name drugs if, at the discretion of the
21 physician, a brand name drug is the only appropriate
22 alternative.
23 (Source: P.A. 85-1176.)
24 (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
25 Sec. 4. Amount of Grant.
26 (a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any
27 individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar
28 year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
29 such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was
30 entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
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1 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
2 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
3 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
4 qualified to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, and
5 any disabled person whose annual household income is less
6 than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year and
7 less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant year and thereafter and
8 whose household is liable for payment of property taxes
9 accrued or has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued
10 and is domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim
11 is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. With respect to
12 claims filed by individuals who will become 65 years old
13 during the calendar year in which a claim is filed, the
14 amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
15 be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to which the
16 claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in this
17 Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the
18 claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is
19 filed.
20 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
21 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
22 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
23 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
24 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
25 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
26 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
27 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
28 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
29 income for that year for those with a household income of
30 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
31 is more than $14,000 but less than $16,000.
32 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
33 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
34 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
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1 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
2 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
3 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
4 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
5 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
6 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
7 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
8 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
9 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
10 of the number of months in which household income did not
11 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
12 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
13 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
14 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
15 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
16 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
17 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
18 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
19 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
20 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
21 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
22 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
23 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
24 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
25 residence.
26 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
27 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
28 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
29 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
30 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
31 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
32 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
33 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
34 during that month.
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1 (f) There is hereby established a program of
2 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
3 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
4 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
5 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
6 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
7 pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
8 of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
9 $80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
10 prescription costs each month. In addition, after an
11 individual a beneficiary receives $2,500 $800 in benefits
12 during a State fiscal year, that beneficiary shall also be
13 charged 20% of the cost of each prescription for which
14 payments are made by the program during the remainder of the
15 fiscal year. To become a beneficiary under this program a
16 person must be: (1) be (i) 65 years or older, or (ii) the
17 surviving spouse of such a claimant, who at the time of death
18 received or was entitled to receive benefits pursuant to this
19 subsection, which surviving spouse will become 65 years of
20 age within the 24 months immediately following the death of
21 such claimant and which surviving spouse but for his or her
22 age is otherwise qualified to receive benefits pursuant to
23 this subsection, or (iii) disabled, and (2) be is domiciled
24 in this State at the time he files his or her claim, and (3)
25 have has a maximum household income of less than $14,000 for
26 grant years before the 1998 grant year and less than $16,000
27 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than $20,000 for
28 a one-person household and less than $25,000 for a 2-person
29 or more household for the 2000 grant year and thereafter. In
30 addition, each eligible person must (1) obtain an
31 identification card from the Department, (2) at the time the
32 card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the State of
33 Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed under any
34 private insurance plans, (3) present the identification card
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1 to the dispensing pharmacist.
2 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
3 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
4 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
5 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
6 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
7 plan.
8 The fee to be charged by the Department for the
9 identification card shall be equal to $40 for persons below
10 the official poverty line as defined by the United States
11 Department of Health and Human Services and $80 for all other
12 persons.
13 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
14 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
15 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
16 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
17 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
18 by this subsection and (2) each participating household
19 member contributes the fee required for that person by the
20 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
21 identification card. Persons eligible for any benefit under
22 this Act due to become 65 in calendar year 1984 or any
23 subsequent calendar year in which a claim is filed are
24 excluded from the benefit prescribed in this subsection (f)
25 for the calendar year in which they become 65.
26 (Source: P.A. 90-650, eff. 7-27-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
27 (320 ILCS 25/5) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 405)
28 Sec. 5. Procedure.
29 (a) In general. Claims must be filed after January 1,
30 on forms prescribed by the Department. No claim may be filed
31 more than one year after December 31 of the year for which
32 the claim is filed except that claims for 1976 may be filed
33 until December 31, 1978. The pharmaceutical assistance
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1 identification card provided for in subsection (f) of Section
2 4 shall be valid for a period not to exceed one year.
3 (b) Claim is Personal. The right to file a claim under
4 this Act shall be personal to the claimant and shall not
5 survive his death, but such right may be exercised on behalf
6 of a claimant by his legal guardian or attorney-in-fact. If
7 a claimant dies after having filed a timely claim, the amount
8 thereof shall be disbursed to his surviving spouse or, if no
9 spouse survives, to his surviving dependent minor children in
10 equal parts, provided the spouse or child, as the case may
11 be, resided with the claimant at the time he filed his claim.
12 If at the time of disbursement neither the claimant nor his
13 spouse is surviving, and no dependent minor children of the
14 claimant are surviving the amount of the claim shall escheat
15 to the State.
16 (c) One claim per household. Only one member of a
17 household may file a claim under this Act in any calendar
18 year; where both members of a household are otherwise
19 entitled to claim a grant under this Act, they must agree as
20 to which of them will file a claim for that year.
21 (d) Content of application form. The form prescribed by
22 the Department for purposes of paragraph (a) shall include a
23 table, appropriately keyed to the parts of the form on which
24 the claimant is required to furnish information, which will
25 enable the claimant to determine readily the approximate
26 amount of grant to which he is entitled by relating levels of
27 household income to property taxes accrued or rent
28 constituting property taxes accrued.
29 (e) Pharmaceutical Assistance Procedures. The
30 Department shall establish the form and manner for
31 application, and establish by January 1, 1986 a procedure to
32 enable persons to apply for the additional grant or for the
33 pharmaceutical assistance identification card on the same
34 application form. Nothing in the application process shall
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1 delay the processing of an application for an identification
2 card upon the applicant's change in income.
3 (Source: P.A. 91-533, eff. 8-13-99.)