[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
91_HB0025
LRB9100373DHpk
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, 2000, any prescription
16 drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease; (5)
17 beginning January 1, 2000, any prescription drug used in the
18 treatment of Alzheimer's disease; and (6) beginning January
19 1, 2000, 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
-2- LRB9100373DHpk
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 grant year, and less than
9 $25,000 for the 1999 grant year and thereafter and whose
10 household is liable for payment of property taxes accrued or
11 has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued and is
12 domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim is
13 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 $25,000 (less than $16,000
34 in grant year 1998).
-3- LRB9100373DHpk
1 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
2 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
3 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
4 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
5 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
6 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
7 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
8 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
9 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
10 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
11 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
12 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
13 of the number of months in which household income did not
14 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
15 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
16 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
17 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
18 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
19 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
20 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
21 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
22 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
23 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
24 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
25 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
26 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
27 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
28 residence.
29 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
30 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
31 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
32 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
33 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
34 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
-4- LRB9100373DHpk
1 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
2 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
3 during that month.
4 (f) There is hereby established a program of
5 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
6 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
7 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
8 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
9 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
10 pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
11 of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
12 $80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
13 prescription costs each month. In addition, after a
14 beneficiary receives $800 in benefits during a State fiscal
15 year, that beneficiary shall also be charged 20% of the cost
16 of each prescription for which payments are made by the
17 program during the remainder of the fiscal year. To become a
18 beneficiary under this program a person must be: (1) (i) 65
19 years or older, or (ii) the surviving spouse of such a
20 claimant, who at the time of death received or was entitled
21 to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, which
22 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
23 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
24 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
25 qualified to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, or
26 (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in this State at the
27 time he files his or her claim, and (3) has a maximum
28 household income of less than $14,000 for grant years before
29 the 1998 grant year, and less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant
30 year, and less than $25,000 for the 1999 grant year and
31 thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must (1) obtain
32 an identification card from the Department, (2) at the time
33 the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the State
34 of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed under any
-5- LRB9100373DHpk
1 private insurance plans, (3) present the identification card
2 to the dispensing pharmacist.
3 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
4 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
5 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
6 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
7 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
8 plan.
9 The fee to be charged by the Department for the
10 identification card shall be equal to $40 for persons below
11 the official poverty line as defined by the United States
12 Department of Health and Human Services and $80 for all other
13 persons.
14 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
15 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
16 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
17 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
18 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
19 by this subsection and (2) each participating household
20 member contributes the fee required for that person by the
21 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
22 identification card. Persons eligible for any benefit under
23 this Act due to become 65 in calendar year 1984 or any
24 subsequent calendar year in which a claim is filed are
25 excluded from the benefit prescribed in this subsection (f)
26 (g) for the calendar year in which they become 65.
27 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-650, eff. 7-27-98;
28 revised 11-18-98.)