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91_HB3241
LRB9112067SMmb
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 and 4.
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 Section 3.15 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; (4) beginning January 1, 2001, any prescription
16 drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease; (5)
17 beginning January 1, 2001, any prescription drug used in the
18 treatment of Alzheimer's disease; and (6) beginning January
19 1, 2001, any prescription drug used in the treatment of
20 cancer. The specific agents or products to be included under
21 such categories shall be listed in a handbook to be prepared
22 and distributed by the Department. The general types of
23 covered prescription drugs shall be indicated by rule.
24 (Source: P.A. 85-1176.)
25 (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
26 Sec. 4. Amount of Grant.
27 (a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any
28 individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar
29 year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
30 such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was
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1 entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
2 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
3 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
4 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
5 qualified to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, and
6 any disabled person whose annual household income is less
7 than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year, and
8 less than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and
9 less than $25,000 for the 2000 grant year and thereafter and
10 whose household is liable for payment of property taxes
11 accrued or has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued
12 and is domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim
13 is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. With respect to
14 claims filed by individuals who will become 65 years old
15 during the calendar year in which a claim is filed, the
16 amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
17 be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to which the
18 claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in this
19 Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the
20 claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is
21 filed.
22 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
23 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
24 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
25 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
26 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
27 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
28 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
29 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
30 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
31 income for that year for those with a household income of
32 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
33 is more than $14,000 but less than $16,000.
34 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
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1 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
2 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
3 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
4 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
5 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
6 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
7 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
8 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
9 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
10 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
11 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
12 of the number of months in which household income did not
13 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
14 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
15 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
16 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
17 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
18 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
19 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
20 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
21 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
22 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
23 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
24 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
25 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
26 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
27 residence.
28 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
29 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
30 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
31 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
32 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
33 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
34 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
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1 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
2 during that month.
3 (f) There is hereby established a program of
4 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
5 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
6 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
7 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
8 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
9 pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
10 of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
11 $80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
12 prescription costs each month. In addition, after a
13 beneficiary receives $800 in benefits during a State fiscal
14 year, that beneficiary shall also be charged 20% of the cost
15 of each prescription for which payments are made by the
16 program during the remainder of the fiscal year. To become a
17 beneficiary under this program a person must be: (1) (i) 65
18 years or older, or (ii) the surviving spouse of such a
19 claimant, who at the time of death received or was entitled
20 to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, which
21 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
22 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
23 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
24 qualified to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, or
25 (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in this State at the
26 time he files his or her claim, and (3) has a maximum
27 household income of less than $14,000 for grant years before
28 the 1998 grant year, and less than $16,000 for the 1998 and
29 1999 grant years, and less than $25,000 for the 1999 grant
30 year and thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must
31 (1) obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at
32 the time the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to
33 the State of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed
34 under any private insurance plans, (3) present the
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1 identification card 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.)