Public Act 093-0902
 
HB5057 Enrolled LRB093 19045 AMC 44780 b

    AN ACT concerning seniors.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Section 4.02 and by adding Section 4.12 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.02)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.02)
    Sec. 4.02. The Department shall establish a program of
services to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of
persons age 60 and older in need of long term care or who are
established as persons who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or a
related disorder under the Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Act,
thereby enabling them to remain in their own homes or in other
living arrangements. Such preventive services, which may be
coordinated with other programs for the aged and monitored by
area agencies on aging in cooperation with the Department, may
include, but are not limited to, any or all of the following:
        (a) home health services;
        (b) home nursing services;
        (c) homemaker services;
        (d) chore and housekeeping services;
        (e) day care services;
        (f) home-delivered meals;
        (g) education in self-care;
        (h) personal care services;
        (i) adult day health services;
        (j) habilitation services;
        (k) respite care;
        (k-5) community reintegration services;
        (l) other nonmedical social services that may enable
    the person to become self-supporting; or
        (m) clearinghouse for information provided by senior
    citizen home owners who want to rent rooms to or share
    living space with other senior citizens.
    The Department shall establish eligibility standards for
such services taking into consideration the unique economic and
social needs of the target population for whom they are to be
provided. Such eligibility standards shall be based on the
recipient's ability to pay for services; provided, however,
that in determining the amount and nature of services for which
a person may qualify, consideration shall not be given to the
value of cash, property or other assets held in the name of the
person's spouse pursuant to a written agreement dividing
marital property into equal but separate shares or pursuant to
a transfer of the person's interest in a home to his spouse,
provided that the spouse's share of the marital property is not
made available to the person seeking such services.
    Beginning July 1, 2002, the Department shall require as a
condition of eligibility that all financially eligible
applicants and recipients apply for medical assistance under
Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code in accordance with
rules promulgated by the Department.
    The Department shall, in conjunction with the Department of
Public Aid, seek appropriate amendments under Sections 1915 and
1924 of the Social Security Act. The purpose of the amendments
shall be to extend eligibility for home and community based
services under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the Social Security
Act to persons who transfer to or for the benefit of a spouse
those amounts of income and resources allowed under Section
1924 of the Social Security Act. Subject to the approval of
such amendments, the Department shall extend the provisions of
Section 5-4 of the Illinois Public Aid Code to persons who, but
for the provision of home or community-based services, would
require the level of care provided in an institution, as is
provided for in federal law. Those persons no longer found to
be eligible for receiving noninstitutional services due to
changes in the eligibility criteria shall be given 60 days
notice prior to actual termination. Those persons receiving
notice of termination may contact the Department and request
the determination be appealed at any time during the 60 day
notice period. With the exception of the lengthened notice and
time frame for the appeal request, the appeal process shall
follow the normal procedure. In addition, each person affected
regardless of the circumstances for discontinued eligibility
shall be given notice and the opportunity to purchase the
necessary services through the Community Care Program. If the
individual does not elect to purchase services, the Department
shall advise the individual of alternative services. The target
population identified for the purposes of this Section are
persons age 60 and older with an identified service need.
Priority shall be given to those who are at imminent risk of
institutionalization. The services shall be provided to
eligible persons age 60 and older to the extent that the cost
of the services together with the other personal maintenance
expenses of the persons are reasonably related to the standards
established for care in a group facility appropriate to the
person's condition. These non-institutional services, pilot
projects or experimental facilities may be provided as part of
or in addition to those authorized by federal law or those
funded and administered by the Department of Human Services.
The Departments of Human Services, Public Aid, Public Health,
Veterans' Affairs, and Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Community Affairs and other appropriate agencies of State,
federal and local governments shall cooperate with the
Department on Aging in the establishment and development of the
non-institutional services. The Department shall require an
annual audit from all chore/housekeeping and homemaker vendors
contracting with the Department under this Section. The annual
audit shall assure that each audited vendor's procedures are in
compliance with Department's financial reporting guidelines
requiring a 27% administrative cost split and a 73% employee
wages and benefits cost split. The audit is a public record
under the Freedom of Information Act. The Department shall
execute, relative to the nursing home prescreening project,
written inter-agency agreements with the Department of Human
Services and the Department of Public Aid, to effect the
following: (1) intake procedures and common eligibility
criteria for those persons who are receiving non-institutional
services; and (2) the establishment and development of
non-institutional services in areas of the State where they are
not currently available or are undeveloped. On and after July
1, 1996, all nursing home prescreenings for individuals 60
years of age or older shall be conducted by the Department.
    The Department is authorized to establish a system of
recipient copayment for services provided under this Section,
such copayment to be based upon the recipient's ability to pay
but in no case to exceed the actual cost of the services
provided. Additionally, any portion of a person's income which
is equal to or less than the federal poverty standard shall not
be considered by the Department in determining the copayment.
The level of such copayment shall be adjusted whenever
necessary to reflect any change in the officially designated
federal poverty standard.
    The Department, or the Department's authorized
representative, shall recover the amount of moneys expended for
services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery may be
had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any, and
then only at such time when there is no surviving child who is
under age 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled. This
paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery, at the death of the
person, of moneys for services provided to the person or in
behalf of the person under this Section to which the person was
not entitled; provided that such recovery shall not be enforced
against any real estate while it is occupied as a homestead by
the surviving spouse or other dependent, if no claims by other
creditors have been filed against the estate, or, if such
claims have been filed, they remain dormant for failure of
prosecution or failure of the claimant to compel administration
of the estate for the purpose of payment. This paragraph shall
not bar recovery from the estate of a spouse, under Sections
1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act and Section 5-4 of the
Illinois Public Aid Code, who precedes a person receiving
services under this Section in death. All moneys for services
paid to or in behalf of the person under this Section shall be
claimed for recovery from the deceased spouse's estate.
"Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means the dwelling
house and contiguous real estate occupied by a surviving spouse
or relative, as defined by the rules and regulations of the
Illinois Department of Public Aid, regardless of the value of
the property.
    The Department shall develop procedures to enhance
availability of services on evenings, weekends, and on an
emergency basis to meet the respite needs of caregivers.
Procedures shall be developed to permit the utilization of
services in successive blocks of 24 hours up to the monthly
maximum established by the Department. Workers providing these
services shall be appropriately trained.
    Beginning on the effective date of this Amendatory Act of
1991, no person may perform chore/housekeeping and homemaker
services under a program authorized by this Section unless that
person has been issued a certificate of pre-service to do so by
his or her employing agency. Information gathered to effect
such certification shall include (i) the person's name, (ii)
the date the person was hired by his or her current employer,
and (iii) the training, including dates and levels. Persons
engaged in the program authorized by this Section before the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1991 shall be issued a
certificate of all pre- and in-service training from his or her
employer upon submitting the necessary information. The
employing agency shall be required to retain records of all
staff pre- and in-service training, and shall provide such
records to the Department upon request and upon termination of
the employer's contract with the Department. In addition, the
employing agency is responsible for the issuance of
certifications of in-service training completed to their
employees.
    The Department is required to develop a system to ensure
that persons working as homemakers and chore housekeepers
receive increases in their wages when the federal minimum wage
is increased by requiring vendors to certify that they are
meeting the federal minimum wage statute for homemakers and
chore housekeepers. An employer that cannot ensure that the
minimum wage increase is being given to homemakers and chore
housekeepers shall be denied any increase in reimbursement
costs.
    The Department on Aging and the Department of Human
Services shall cooperate in the development and submission of
an annual report on programs and services provided under this
Section. Such joint report shall be filed with the Governor and
the General Assembly on or before September 30 each year.
    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall
be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker,
the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government
Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is
required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library
Act.
    Those persons previously found eligible for receiving
non-institutional services whose services were discontinued
under the Emergency Budget Act of Fiscal Year 1992, and who do
not meet the eligibility standards in effect on or after July
1, 1992, shall remain ineligible on and after July 1, 1992.
Those persons previously not required to cost-share and who
were required to cost-share effective March 1, 1992, shall
continue to meet cost-share requirements on and after July 1,
1992. Beginning July 1, 1992, all clients will be required to
meet eligibility, cost-share, and other requirements and will
have services discontinued or altered when they fail to meet
these requirements.
(Source: P.A. 92-597, eff. 6-28-02; 93-85, eff. 1-1-04; revised
12-6-03.)
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.12 new)
    Sec. 4.12. Assistance to nursing home residents.
    (a) The Department on Aging shall assist eligible nursing
home residents and their families to select long-term care
options that meet their needs and reflect their preferences. At
any time during the process, the resident or his or her
representative may decline further assistance.
    (b) To provide assistance, the Department shall develop a
program of transition services with follow-up in selected areas
of the State, to be expanded statewide as funding becomes
available. The program shall be developed in consultation with
nursing homes, case managers, Area Agencies on Aging, and
others interested in the well-being of frail elderly Illinois
residents. The Department shall establish administrative rules
pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act with
respect to resident eligibility, assessment of the resident's
health, cognitive, social, and financial needs, development of
comprehensive service transition plans, and the level of
services that must be available prior to transition of a
resident into the community.
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
adding Section 5-5d as follows:
 
    (305 ILCS 5/5-5d new)
    Sec. 5-5d. Transition services. The Department of Public
Aid shall apply for any necessary waivers pursuant to Section
1915(c) of the Social Security Act to facilitate transition
services. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as
limiting current similar programs by the Department of Human
Services or the Department on Aging.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.