093_HB2849

 
                                     LRB093 07154 DRJ 10997 b

 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  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
 
                            -3-      LRB093 07154 DRJ 10997 b
 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
 
                            -4-      LRB093 07154 DRJ 10997 b
 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   shall   adopt   rules  specifying  all
23    eligibility   and   participation   requirements   for    the
24    pharmaceutical   assistance   program,   including  copayment
25    amounts, identification card fees,  expenditure  limits,  and
26    the  benefit threshold after which a 20% charge is imposed on
27    the cost of each prescription, to be in effect on  and  after
28    July  1,  2004. To the extent practicable, those requirements
29    shall be commensurate with the requirements provided in rules
30    adopted by the Department of  Public  Aid  to  implement  the
31    pharmacy  assistance  program  under  Section  5-5.12a of the
32    Illinois Public Aid Code.
33        Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered  prescription
34    drug  is  available,  the Department shall reimburse only for
 
                            -5-      LRB093 07154 DRJ 10997 b
 1    the reasonable costs of  the  generic  equivalent,  less  the
 2    co-pay  established  in  this Section, unless (i) the covered
 3    prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as
 4    a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR  320.33,  (ii)  the
 5    prescriber  indicates  on the face of the prescription "brand
 6    medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that
 7    a substitution  is  not  permitted.   When  issuing  an  oral
 8    prescription for covered prescription medication described in
 9    item  (i)  of  this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate
10    "brand medically necessary" and that a  substitution  is  not
11    permitted.    If   the  covered  prescription  drug  and  its
12    authorizing prescription do  not  meet  the  criteria  listed
13    above,   the   beneficiary   may   purchase  the  non-generic
14    equivalent of the covered prescription  drug  by  paying  the
15    difference  between the generic cost and the non-generic cost
16    plus the beneficiary co-pay.
17        Any  person   otherwise   eligible   for   pharmaceutical
18    assistance  under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
19    any public program for assistance in purchasing  any  covered
20    prescription  drugs  shall be ineligible for assistance under
21    this Act to the extent such costs are covered by  such  other
22    plan.
23        The   fee  to  be  charged  by  the  Department  for  the
24    identification card shall be equal to $5  per  coverage  year
25    for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the
26    United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25
27    per coverage year for all other persons.
28        In  the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
29    benefit  under  this  Act,  and  are  members  of  the   same
30    household,   (1)  each  such  person  shall  be  entitled  to
31    participate  in  the   pharmaceutical   assistance   program,
32    provided  that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
33    by this  subsection  and  (2)  each  participating  household
34    member  contributes  the  fee required for that person by the
 
                            -6-      LRB093 07154 DRJ 10997 b
 1    preceding  paragraph  for  the  purpose   of   obtaining   an
 2    identification card.
 3    (Source: P.A.  91-357,  eff.  7-29-99;  91-699,  eff. 1-1-01;
 4    92-131, eff.  7-23-01;  92-519,  eff.  1-1-02;  92-651,  eff.
 5    7-11-02.)

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