093_HB3847
LRB093 13436 SJM 18832 b
1 AN ACT concerning public benefits.
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;,
20 less than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years;, and
21 less than (i) $21,218 for a household containing one person,
22 (ii) $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 through 2003 grant years; and (i) $40,000 or less for a
25 household containing one person or (ii) $50,000 or less for a
26 household containing 2 or more persons for the 2004 grant
27 year and thereafter and whose household is liable for payment
28 of property taxes accrued or has paid rent constituting
29 property taxes accrued and is domiciled in this State at the
30 time he or she files his or her claim is entitled to claim a
31 grant under this Act. With respect to claims filed by
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1 individuals who will become 65 years old during the calendar
2 year in which a claim is filed, the amount of any grant to
3 which that household is entitled shall be an amount equal to
4 1/12 of the amount to which the claimant would otherwise be
5 entitled as provided in this Section, multiplied by the
6 number of months in which the claimant was 65 in the calendar
7 year in which the claim is filed.
8 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
9 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
10 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
11 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
12 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
13 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
14 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
15 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
16 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
17 income for that year for those with a household income of
18 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
19 is more than $14,000.
20 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
21 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
22 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
23 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
24 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
25 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
26 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
27 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
28 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
29 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
30 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
31 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
32 of the number of months in which household income did not
33 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
34 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
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1 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
2 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
3 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
4 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
5 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
6 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
7 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
8 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
9 his or her household, the amount of property taxes accrued
10 used in computing the amount of grant to which he or she is
11 entitled shall be the same percentage of property taxes
12 accrued as is the percentage of ownership held by the
13 claimant in the residence.
14 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
15 more than one residence in the taxable year, he or she may
16 claim only one residence for any part of a month. In the
17 case of property taxes accrued, he or she shall prorate 1/12
18 of the total property taxes accrued on his or her residence
19 to each month that he or she owned and occupied that
20 residence; and, in the case of rent constituting property
21 taxes accrued, shall prorate each month's rent payments to
22 the residence actually occupied during that month.
23 (f) There is hereby established a program of
24 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
25 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
26 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
27 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
28 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
29 pays $5 for an identification card shall pay no additional
30 prescription costs. Each beneficiary who pays $25 for an
31 identification card shall pay $3 per prescription. In
32 addition, after a beneficiary receives $2,000 in benefits
33 during a State fiscal year, that beneficiary shall also be
34 charged 20% of the cost of each prescription for which
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1 payments are made by the program during the remainder of the
2 fiscal year. To become a beneficiary under this program a
3 person must: (1) be (i) 65 years of age or older, or (ii) the
4 surviving spouse of such a claimant, who at the time of death
5 received or was entitled to receive benefits pursuant to this
6 subsection, which surviving spouse will become 65 years of
7 age within the 24 months immediately following the death of
8 such claimant and which surviving spouse but for his or her
9 age is otherwise qualified to receive benefits pursuant to
10 this subsection, or (iii) disabled, and (2) be domiciled in
11 this State at the time he or she files his or her claim, and
12 (3) have a maximum household income of less than $14,000 for
13 grant years before the 1998 grant year;, less than $16,000
14 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years;, and less than (i) $21,218
15 for a household containing one person, (ii) $28,480 for a
16 household containing 2 persons, or (iii) $35,740 for a
17 household containing 3 more persons for the 2000 through 2003
18 grant years; and (i) $40,000 or less for a household
19 containing one person or (ii) $50,000 or less for a household
20 containing 2 or more persons for the 2004 grant year and
21 thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must (1)
22 obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at the
23 time the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the
24 State of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed
25 under any private insurance plans, and (3) present the
26 identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
27 The Department may adopt rules specifying participation
28 requirements for the pharmaceutical assistance program,
29 including copayment amounts, identification card fees,
30 expenditure limits, and the benefit threshold after which a
31 20% charge is imposed on the cost of each prescription, to be
32 in effect on and after July 1, 2004. Notwithstanding any
33 other provision of this paragraph, however, the Department
34 may not increase the identification card fee above the amount
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1 in effect on May 1, 2003 without the express consent of the
2 General Assembly. To the extent practicable, those
3 requirements shall be commensurate with the requirements
4 provided in rules adopted by the Department of Public Aid to
5 implement the pharmacy assistance program under Section
6 5-5.12a of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
7 Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered prescription
8 drug is available, the Department shall reimburse only for
9 the reasonable costs of the generic equivalent, less the
10 co-pay established in this Section, unless (i) the covered
11 prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as
12 a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR 320.33, (ii) the
13 prescriber indicates on the face of the prescription "brand
14 medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that
15 a substitution is not permitted. When issuing an oral
16 prescription for covered prescription medication described in
17 item (i) of this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate
18 "brand medically necessary" and that a substitution is not
19 permitted. If the covered prescription drug and its
20 authorizing prescription do not meet the criteria listed
21 above, the beneficiary may purchase the non-generic
22 equivalent of the covered prescription drug by paying the
23 difference between the generic cost and the non-generic cost
24 plus the beneficiary co-pay.
25 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
26 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
27 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
28 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
29 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
30 plan.
31 The fee to be charged by the Department for the
32 identification card shall be equal to $5 per coverage year
33 for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the
34 United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25
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1 per coverage year for all other persons.
2 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
3 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
4 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
5 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
6 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
7 by this subsection and (2) each participating household
8 member contributes the fee required for that person by the
9 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
10 identification card.
11 (Source: P.A. 92-131, eff. 7-23-01; 92-519, eff. 1-1-02;
12 92-651, eff. 7-11-02; 93-130, eff. 7-10-03.)
13 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14 becoming law.