093_HB0784enr

 
HB0784 Enrolled                      LRB093 05320 DRJ 05410 b

 1        AN ACT concerning assistance to citizens.

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

 4        Section 5.  The  Senior  Citizens  and  Disabled  Persons
 5    Property  Tax  Relief  and  Pharmaceutical  Assistance Act is
 6    amended by changing Section 4 as follows:

 7        (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
 8        Sec. 4.  Amount of Grant.
 9        (a)  In general.  Any individual 65 years or older or any
10    individual who will become 65 years old during  the  calendar
11    year  in  which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
12    such a claimant, who at the time of  death  received  or  was
13    entitled  to  receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
14    surviving spouse will become 65 years of age  within  the  24
15    months  immediately  following the death of such claimant and
16    which surviving spouse but for his or her  age  is  otherwise
17    qualified  to  receive  a grant pursuant to this Section, and
18    any disabled person whose annual  household  income  is  less
19    than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year, less
20    than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than
21    (i)  $21,218  for  a  household  containing  one person, (ii)
22    $28,480 for  a  household  containing  2  persons,  or  (iii)
23    $35,740  for a household containing 3 or more persons for the
24    2000 grant year and thereafter and whose household is  liable
25    for  payment  of  property  taxes  accrued  or  has paid rent
26    constituting property taxes accrued and is domiciled in  this
27    State  at  the  time  he  or  she  files  his or her claim is
28    entitled to claim a grant under this  Act.  With  respect  to
29    claims  filed  by  individuals  who  will become 65 years old
30    during the calendar year in  which  a  claim  is  filed,  the
31    amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
 
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 1    be  an  amount  equal  to  1/12  of  the  amount to which the
 2    claimant would otherwise be  entitled  as  provided  in  this
 3    Section,  multiplied  by  the  number  of months in which the
 4    claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which  the  claim  is
 5    filed.
 6        (b)  Limitation.    Except   as   otherwise  provided  in
 7    subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the  maximum  amount
 8    of  grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
 9    by which the  property  taxes  accrued  which  were  paid  or
10    payable   during   the   last  preceding  tax  year  or  rent
11    constituting  property  taxes  accrued  upon  the  claimant's
12    residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3  1/2%
13    of  the  claimant's  household income for that year but in no
14    event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of  household
15    income  for  that  year  for those with a household income of
16    $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
17    is more than $14,000.
18        (c)  Public aid recipients.  If household income  in  one
19    or  more  months  during  a  year includes cash assistance in
20    excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid  or
21    the  Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
22    Department of  Public  Aid  under  the  Department  of  Human
23    Services  Act) which was determined under regulations of that
24    Department on a measure of need that  included  an  allowance
25    for  actual  rent  or property taxes paid by the recipient of
26    that assistance, the amount of grant to which that  household
27    is  entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
28    shall be the product of (1) the maximum  amount  computed  as
29    specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
30    of  the  number  of  months in which household income did not
31    include such cash assistance over $55 to the  number  twelve.
32    If household income did not include such cash assistance over
33    $55  for  any months during the year, the amount of the grant
34    to which the household  is  entitled  shall  be  the  maximum
 
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 1    amount  computed  as  specified  in  subsection  (b)  of this
 2    Section.   For  purposes  of  this   paragraph   (c),   "cash
 3    assistance"  does  not  include any amount received under the
 4    federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
 5        (d)  Joint ownership.  If title to the residence is  held
 6    jointly  by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
 7    his or her household, the amount of  property  taxes  accrued
 8    used  in  computing the amount of grant to which he or she is
 9    entitled shall be  the  same  percentage  of  property  taxes
10    accrued  as  is  the  percentage  of  ownership  held  by the
11    claimant in the residence.
12        (e)  More than one residence.  If a claimant has occupied
13    more than one residence in the taxable year, he  or  she  may
14    claim  only  one  residence  for any part of a month.  In the
15    case of property taxes accrued, he or she shall prorate  1/12
16    of  the  total property taxes accrued on his or her residence
17    to each  month  that  he  or  she  owned  and  occupied  that
18    residence;  and,  in  the  case of rent constituting property
19    taxes accrued, shall prorate each month's  rent  payments  to
20    the residence actually occupied during that month.
21        (f)  There   is   hereby   established   a   program   of
22    pharmaceutical  assistance  to  the  aged  and disabled which
23    shall be administered by the Department  in  accordance  with
24    this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
25    behalf  of  beneficiaries  of the program, for the reasonable
26    costs of covered prescription drugs.   Each  beneficiary  who
27    pays  $5  for  an identification card shall pay no additional
28    prescription costs.  Each beneficiary who  pays  $25  for  an
29    identification  card  shall  pay  $3  per  prescription.   In
30    addition,  after  a  beneficiary  receives $2,000 in benefits
31    during a State fiscal year, that beneficiary  shall  also  be
32    charged  20%  of  the  cost  of  each  prescription for which
33    payments are made by the program during the remainder of  the
34    fiscal  year.   To  become a beneficiary under this program a
 
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 1    person must: (1) be (i) 65 years of age or older, or (ii) the
 2    surviving spouse of such a claimant, who at the time of death
 3    received or was entitled to receive benefits pursuant to this
 4    subsection, which surviving spouse will become  65  years  of
 5    age  within  the 24 months immediately following the death of
 6    such claimant and which surviving spouse but for his  or  her
 7    age  is  otherwise  qualified to receive benefits pursuant to
 8    this subsection, or (iii) disabled, and (2) be  domiciled  in
 9    this  State at the time he or she files his or her claim, and
10    (3) have a maximum household income of less than $14,000  for
11    grant years before the 1998 grant year, less than $16,000 for
12    the  1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than (i) $21,218 for
13    a  household  containing  one  person,  (ii)  $28,480  for  a
14    household containing  2  persons,  or  (iii)  $35,740  for  a
15    household  containing  3 more persons for the 2000 grant year
16    and thereafter.  In addition, each eligible person  must  (1)
17    obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at the
18    time  the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the
19    State of Illinois benefits which  may  be  otherwise  claimed
20    under  any  private  insurance  plans,  and  (3)  present the
21    identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
22        The Department may adopt rules  specifying  participation
23    requirements   for  the  pharmaceutical  assistance  program,
24    including  copayment  amounts,  identification   card   fees,
25    expenditure  limits,  and the benefit threshold after which a
26    20% charge is imposed on the cost of each prescription, to be
27    in effect on and after  July  1,  2004.  Notwithstanding  any
28    other  provision  of  this paragraph, however, the Department
29    may not increase the identification card fee above the amount
30    in effect on May 1, 2003 without the express consent  of  the
31    General   Assembly.   To   the   extent   practicable,  those
32    requirements shall  be  commensurate  with  the  requirements
33    provided  in rules adopted by the Department of Public Aid to
34    implement  the  pharmacy  assistance  program  under  Section
 
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 1    5-5.12a of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
 2        Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered  prescription
 3    drug  is  available,  the Department shall reimburse only for
 4    the reasonable costs of  the  generic  equivalent,  less  the
 5    co-pay  established  in  this Section, unless (i) the covered
 6    prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as
 7    a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR  320.33,  (ii)  the
 8    prescriber  indicates  on the face of the prescription "brand
 9    medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that
10    a substitution  is  not  permitted.   When  issuing  an  oral
11    prescription for covered prescription medication described in
12    item  (i)  of  this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate
13    "brand medically necessary" and that a  substitution  is  not
14    permitted.    If   the  covered  prescription  drug  and  its
15    authorizing prescription do  not  meet  the  criteria  listed
16    above,   the   beneficiary   may   purchase  the  non-generic
17    equivalent of the covered prescription  drug  by  paying  the
18    difference  between the generic cost and the non-generic cost
19    plus the beneficiary co-pay.
20        Any  person   otherwise   eligible   for   pharmaceutical
21    assistance  under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
22    any public program for assistance in purchasing  any  covered
23    prescription  drugs  shall be ineligible for assistance under
24    this Act to the extent such costs are covered by  such  other
25    plan.
26        The   fee  to  be  charged  by  the  Department  for  the
27    identification card shall be equal to $5  per  coverage  year
28    for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the
29    United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25
30    per coverage year for all other persons.
31        In  the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
32    benefit  under  this  Act,  and  are  members  of  the   same
33    household,   (1)  each  such  person  shall  be  entitled  to
34    participate  in  the   pharmaceutical   assistance   program,
 
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 1    provided  that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
 2    by this  subsection  and  (2)  each  participating  household
 3    member  contributes  the  fee required for that person by the
 4    preceding  paragraph  for  the  purpose   of   obtaining   an
 5    identification card.
 6    (Source: P.A.  91-357,  eff.  7-29-99;  91-699,  eff. 1-1-01;
 7    92-131, eff.  7-23-01;  92-519,  eff.  1-1-02;  92-651,  eff.
 8    7-11-02.)

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