Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB2931
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Full Text of SB2931  99th General Assembly

SB2931enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
5Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 2405/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 3434)
7    Sec. 3. Powers and duties. The Department shall have the
8powers and duties enumerated herein:
9    (a) To co-operate with the federal government in the
10administration of the provisions of the federal Rehabilitation
11Act of 1973, as amended, of the Workforce Investment Act of
121998, and of the federal Social Security Act to the extent and
13in the manner provided in these Acts.
14    (b) To prescribe and supervise such courses of vocational
15training and provide such other services as may be necessary
16for the habilitation and rehabilitation of persons with one or
17more disabilities, including the administrative activities
18under subsection (e) of this Section, and to co-operate with
19State and local school authorities and other recognized
20agencies engaged in habilitation, rehabilitation and
21comprehensive rehabilitation services; and to cooperate with
22the Department of Children and Family Services regarding the
23care and education of children with one or more disabilities.

 

 

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1    (c) (Blank).
2    (d) To report in writing, to the Governor, annually on or
3before the first day of December, and at such other times and
4in such manner and upon such subjects as the Governor may
5require. The annual report shall contain (1) a statement of the
6existing condition of comprehensive rehabilitation services,
7habilitation and rehabilitation in the State; (2) a statement
8of suggestions and recommendations with reference to the
9development of comprehensive rehabilitation services,
10habilitation and rehabilitation in the State; and (3) an
11itemized statement of the amounts of money received from
12federal, State and other sources, and of the objects and
13purposes to which the respective items of these several amounts
14have been devoted.
15    (e) (Blank).
16    (f) To establish a program of services to prevent the
17unnecessary institutionalization of persons in need of long
18term care and who meet the criteria for blindness or disability
19as defined by the Social Security Act, thereby enabling them to
20remain in their own homes. Such preventive services include any
21or all of the following:
22        (1) personal assistant services;
23        (2) homemaker services;
24        (3) home-delivered meals;
25        (4) adult day care services;
26        (5) respite care;

 

 

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1        (6) home modification or assistive equipment;
2        (7) home health services;
3        (8) electronic home response;
4        (9) brain injury behavioral/cognitive services;
5        (10) brain injury habilitation;
6        (11) brain injury pre-vocational services; or
7        (12) brain injury supported employment.
8    The Department shall establish eligibility standards for
9such services taking into consideration the unique economic and
10social needs of the population for whom they are to be
11provided. Such eligibility standards may be based on the
12recipient's ability to pay for services; provided, however,
13that any portion of a person's income that is equal to or less
14than the "protected income" level shall not be considered by
15the Department in determining eligibility. The "protected
16income" level shall be determined by the Department, shall
17never be less than the federal poverty standard, and shall be
18adjusted each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price
19Index For All Urban Consumers as determined by the United
20States Department of Labor. The standards must provide that a
21person may not have more than $10,000 in assets to be eligible
22for the services, and the Department may increase or decrease
23the asset limitation by rule. The Department may not decrease
24the asset level below $10,000.
25    The services shall be provided, as established by the
26Department by rule, to eligible persons to prevent unnecessary

 

 

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1or premature institutionalization, to the extent that the cost
2of the services, together with the other personal maintenance
3expenses of the persons, are reasonably related to the
4standards established for care in a group facility appropriate
5to their condition. These non-institutional services, pilot
6projects or experimental facilities may be provided as part of
7or in addition to those authorized by federal law or those
8funded and administered by the Illinois Department on Aging.
9The Department shall set rates and fees for services in a fair
10and equitable manner. Services identical to those offered by
11the Department on Aging shall be paid at the same rate.
12    Personal assistants and individual maintenance home health
13workers shall be paid at a rate negotiated between the State
14and the an exclusive representative of personal assistants and
15individual maintenance home health workers under a collective
16bargaining agreement. In no case shall the Department pay
17personal assistants or individual maintenance home health
18workers an hourly wage that is less than the federal minimum
19wage. Beginning on July 1, 2016, the hourly rate paid to
20personal assistants and individual maintenance home health
21workers shall be no less than $15 per hour.
22    Solely for the purposes of coverage under the Illinois
23Public Labor Relations Act (5 ILCS 315/), personal assistants
24providing services under the Department's Home Services
25Program shall be considered to be public employees and the
26State of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as

 

 

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1of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
2General Assembly, but not before. Solely for the purposes of
3coverage under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, home
4care and home health workers who function as personal
5assistants and individual maintenance home health workers and
6who also provide services under the Department's Home Services
7Program shall be considered to be public employees, no matter
8whether the State provides such services through direct
9fee-for-service arrangements, with the assistance of a managed
10care organization or other intermediary, or otherwise, and the
11State of Illinois shall be considered to be the employer of
12those persons as of January 29, 2013 (the effective date of
13Public Act 97-1158), but not before except as otherwise
14provided under this subsection (f). The State shall engage in
15collective bargaining with an exclusive representative of home
16care and home health workers who function as personal
17assistants and individual maintenance home health workers
18working under the Home Services Program concerning their terms
19and conditions of employment that are within the State's
20control. Nothing in this paragraph shall be understood to limit
21the right of the persons receiving services defined in this
22Section to hire and fire home care and home health workers who
23function as personal assistants and individual maintenance
24home health workers working under the Home Services Program or
25to supervise them within the limitations set by the Home
26Services Program. The State shall not be considered to be the

 

 

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1employer of home care and home health workers who function as
2personal assistants and individual maintenance home health
3workers working under the Home Services Program for any
4purposes not specifically provided in Public Act 93-204 or
5Public Act 97-1158, including but not limited to, purposes of
6vicarious liability in tort and purposes of statutory
7retirement or health insurance benefits. Home care and home
8health workers who function as personal assistants and
9individual maintenance home health workers and who also provide
10services under the Department's Home Services Program shall not
11be covered by the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971
12(5 ILCS 375/).
13    Any person providing services for the first time as a
14personal assistant or individual maintenance home health
15worker under the Department's Home Services Program shall
16participate in a comprehensive in-person orientation,
17including standardized instruction or education as determined
18by the Department, concerning his or her obligations as an
19Individual Provider of Medicaid services under the Home
20Services Program, fraud training, and training on independent
21living philosophies. Any person providing services as a
22personal assistant or individual maintenance home health
23worker under the Department's Home Services Program shall
24attend annual in-person training, including training in
25preventing fraud and abuse. Training may include the following
26training components: (i) basic first aid; (ii) working with

 

 

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1vulnerable adults; (iii) the Occupational Safety and Health
2Administration's universal precautions; and (iv) basic roles
3and responsibilities of home care and home health workers,
4including information about assistance with lifting and
5transfers for Program recipients, emergency preparedness,
6orientation to positive behavioral practices, fraud issues,
7electronic visit verification, and completion of time sheets.
8Personal assistants and individual maintenance home health
9workers shall be paid their regular hourly wage for all
10orientation and training hours.
11    The State shall contribute into a Taft-Hartley health fund
12for the purpose of providing health insurance to qualified
13personal assistants and individual maintenance home health
14workers. For State fiscal year 2017, the rate shall be $1.11
15per hour paid to personal assistants and individual maintenance
16home health workers in the Home Services Program. For future
17fiscal years, the rate shall be adjusted as determined by
18actuarial analysis.
19    The Department shall execute, relative to nursing home
20prescreening, as authorized by Section 4.03 of the Illinois Act
21on the Aging, written inter-agency agreements with the
22Department on Aging and the Department of Healthcare and Family
23Services, to effect the intake procedures and eligibility
24criteria for those persons who may need long term care. On and
25after July 1, 1996, all nursing home prescreenings for
26individuals 18 through 59 years of age shall be conducted by

 

 

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1the Department, or a designee of the Department.
2    The Department is authorized to establish a system of
3recipient cost-sharing for services provided under this
4Section. The cost-sharing shall be based upon the recipient's
5ability to pay for services, but in no case shall the
6recipient's share exceed the actual cost of the services
7provided. Protected income shall not be considered by the
8Department in its determination of the recipient's ability to
9pay a share of the cost of services. The level of cost-sharing
10shall be adjusted each year to reflect changes in the
11"protected income" level. The Department shall deduct from the
12recipient's share of the cost of services any money expended by
13the recipient for disability-related expenses.
14    To the extent permitted under the federal Social Security
15Act, the Department, or the Department's authorized
16representative, may recover the amount of moneys expended for
17services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
18Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
19estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery may be
20had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any, and
21then only at such time when there is no surviving child who is
22under age 21 or blind or who has a permanent and total
23disability. This paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery, at
24the death of the person, of moneys for services provided to the
25person or in behalf of the person under this Section to which
26the person was not entitled; provided that such recovery shall

 

 

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1not be enforced against any real estate while it is occupied as
2a homestead by the surviving spouse or other dependent, if no
3claims by other creditors have been filed against the estate,
4or, if such claims have been filed, they remain dormant for
5failure of prosecution or failure of the claimant to compel
6administration of the estate for the purpose of payment. This
7paragraph shall not bar recovery from the estate of a spouse,
8under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act and
9Section 5-4 of the Illinois Public Aid Code, who precedes a
10person receiving services under this Section in death. All
11moneys for services paid to or in behalf of the person under
12this Section shall be claimed for recovery from the deceased
13spouse's estate. "Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means
14the dwelling house and contiguous real estate occupied by a
15surviving spouse or relative, as defined by the rules and
16regulations of the Department of Healthcare and Family
17Services, regardless of the value of the property.
18    The Department shall submit an annual report on programs
19and services provided under this Section. The report shall be
20filed with the Governor and the General Assembly on or before
21March 30 each year.
22    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall
23be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker,
24the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
25Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
26Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as

 

 

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1required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
2Act, and filing additional copies with the State Government
3Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as required
4under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act.
5    (g) To establish such subdivisions of the Department as
6shall be desirable and assign to the various subdivisions the
7responsibilities and duties placed upon the Department by law.
8    (h) To cooperate and enter into any necessary agreements
9with the Department of Employment Security for the provision of
10job placement and job referral services to clients of the
11Department, including job service registration of such clients
12with Illinois Employment Security offices and making job
13listings maintained by the Department of Employment Security
14available to such clients.
15    (i) To possess all powers reasonable and necessary for the
16exercise and administration of the powers, duties and
17responsibilities of the Department which are provided for by
18law.
19    (j) (Blank).
20    (k) (Blank).
21    (l) To establish, operate and maintain a Statewide Housing
22Clearinghouse of information on available, government
23subsidized housing accessible to persons with disabilities and
24available privately owned housing accessible to persons with
25disabilities. The information shall include but not be limited
26to the location, rental requirements, access features and

 

 

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1proximity to public transportation of available housing. The
2Clearinghouse shall consist of at least a computerized database
3for the storage and retrieval of information and a separate or
4shared toll free telephone number for use by those seeking
5information from the Clearinghouse. Department offices and
6personnel throughout the State shall also assist in the
7operation of the Statewide Housing Clearinghouse. Cooperation
8with local, State and federal housing managers shall be sought
9and extended in order to frequently and promptly update the
10Clearinghouse's information.
11    (m) To assure that the names and case records of persons
12who received or are receiving services from the Department,
13including persons receiving vocational rehabilitation, home
14services, or other services, and those attending one of the
15Department's schools or other supervised facility shall be
16confidential and not be open to the general public. Those case
17records and reports or the information contained in those
18records and reports shall be disclosed by the Director only to
19proper law enforcement officials, individuals authorized by a
20court, the General Assembly or any committee or commission of
21the General Assembly, and other persons and for reasons as the
22Director designates by rule. Disclosure by the Director may be
23only in accordance with other applicable law.
24(Source: P.A. 98-1004, eff. 8-18-14; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
 
25    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
262016.