SB1837enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1837 Enrolled LRB096 07696 JAM 17797 b

AN ACT concerning State government.

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

Section 5. The Department of Veterans Affairs Act is amended by changing Section 2.03 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2805/2.03) (from Ch. 126 1/2, par. 67.03)

Sec. 2.03. Admissions. Admissions to an Illinois Veterans Home are subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs to govern the admission of applicants.

Each resident of a Home is liable for the payment of sums representing maintenance charges for care at the Home at a rate to be determined by the Department, based on the resident's ability to pay. However, the charges shall not exceed the average annual per capita cost of maintaining the resident in the Home. The Department, upon being furnished proof of payment, shall in its discretion make allowances for unusual expenses in determining the ability of the resident to pay maintenance charges.

Payment of maintenance charges shall be made first and to the fullest extent possible from sources of income other than pension or compensation paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The basis upon which the payment of maintenance charges shall be calculated by the Department is the average per capita cost for the care of all residents at each Home for the fiscal year immediately preceding the period for which the rate for each Home is being calculated.

The Department may require residents to pay charges monthly, quarterly, or otherwise as may be most suitably arranged for the individual members. The amounts received from each Home for the charges shall be transmitted to the Treasurer of the State of Illinois for deposit in each Veterans Home Fund, respectively.

The Department may investigate the financial condition of residents of a Home to determine their ability to pay maintenance charges and to establish standards as a basis of judgment for such determination. Such standards shall be recomputed periodically to reflect changes in the cost of living and other pertinent factors.

Refusal to pay the maintenance charges is cause for discharge of a resident from a Home.

The Department may collect any medical or health benefits to which a resident may become entitled through tax supported or privately financed systems of insurance, as a result of his or her care or treatment in the facilities provided by the Department, or because of care or treatment in other facilities when such care or treatment has been paid for by the Department.

Admission of a resident is not limited or conditioned in any manner by the financial status of the resident or his or her ability to pay maintenance charges.

The Department may accept and hold on behalf of the State, if for the public interest, a grant, gift, devise, or bequest of money or property to the Department made in trust for the maintenance or support of a resident of an Illinois Veterans Home or for any other legitimate purpose. The Department shall cause each gift, grant, devise, or bequest to be kept as a distinct fund and shall invest the same in the manner provided by the laws of this State relating to securities in which the deposit in savings banks may be invested. However, the Department may, at its discretion, deposit in a proper trust company, bank, or savings bank, during the continuance of the trust, any fund left in trust for the life of a person and shall adopt rules and regulations governing the deposit, transfer, or withdrawal of the fund. The Department shall, on the expiration of any trust as provided in any instrument creating the trust, dispose of the fund in the manner provided in the instrument. The Department shall include in its required reports a statement showing what funds are so held by it and the condition of the funds; provided that monies found on residents at the time of their admission or accruing to them during their residence at a Home and monies deposited with the administrators by relatives, guardians, or friends of residents for the special comfort and pleasure of the resident shall remain in the custody of the administrators who shall act as trustees for disbursement to, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the resident. All types of retirement and pension benefits from private and public sources may be paid directly to the administrator of a Home for deposit to the resident trust fund account.

(Source: P.A. 89-324, eff. 8-13-95; 90-168, eff. 7-23-97.)